The Story of Uhm
by Mizu-chan
Summary: There's a wimpy new newsie in Brooklyn. Probelm is that Spot finds her intriguing as he uncovers her disturbing past along with his own..
1. Chapitre 1

Mizu-chan!'s Notes: Hey, guys!  This was my first pathetic attempt at a Newsie fanfiction.  I always planned on revising the whole thing but I never got around to it.  I might later on if it sparks enough interest.  It's insanely long.. heh, heh, sorry about that!  I hope you guys will read it, though!  It's not that hard of a read!  Well, enjoy.  Let me know what ya think!  Flame me if you wish.. I'm trying to become insensitive!  XD!  Oh!  And on the Newsie list my nickname was Uhm.  But I don't think anyone remembers me.. oh well..

I wrote this story because I was tired of reading fanfics where Spot was paired up with this really tough girl.  I personally couldn't see it because I'm a huge supporter of the saying "Opposites attract".  That's why I tried to make Uhm or Selece strong in areas Spot isn't and weak in other areas.  I'm not sure if I did it well.. you be the judge! XD!  Anyways, I'll continue posting chapters swiftly because I already have it all typed up.  Unless I don't get any reviews.. ~:~talks into the nothingness that is her readers~:~

Anyways.. enjoy!  If ya can.. 

New York City 

Brooklyn 

October, 8th 

1900 

Spot Conlon sat on the steps of the lodging house he had been staying in ever since he had become a newsie. A hand cupped his chin delicately as he watched the few straggling newsies try to sell off their papes. It was almost the end of the day. The sun was beginning to set casting a soft glow over the harsh streets. Dinner was cooking and everyone was heading back to the house. The newsies would 'hawk' the headlines as they walked towards the lodging house. 

It had become a habit of Spot's to pick some pathetic newsie and buy a pape from him. He did it to be nice. It always helped with his popularity. And besides, he almost always sold all his papes before dinner. 

"So, Spot, whose you gonna pick tonight?" came a low yet feminine voice. A dark brunette plopped down on the steps besides the bored leader. Her eyes glinted as a smirk slithered across her face. She, like Spot, almost always sold her papers before dinner. But unlike Spot she didn't feel bad for those who couldn't. She laughed her head off at them. 

Sugar had arrived at the lodging house just days after the end of the strike when being a newsie had become a new and popular trend. There were more run-aways then orphans these days. Everyone suddenly had these daring stories to tell about how they became a newsie. Spot never told anyone his story, though, even if they pleaded for him to. 

Sugar had eyes of fire, daring one to mess with her. The very air that surrounded her seemed to crackle. The moment she met someone was the moment she decided whether she liked them or not. Once she chose, there was no changing her mind. Sugar was as tough and stubborn as they came hence why she got her name. It was a joke. 'Sugar is sweet but you shoa as hell ain't.' 

Spot shrugged as he kept his eyes trained on one particular newsie. Something about this brand new newsie intrigued him. 

"I dunno, Suga," Spot murmured, not even looking over at her when he spoke. 

Sugar narrowed her eyes. What was taking Spot's attention away from her? With a pouty expression flashing across her face, Sugar followed Spot's gaze. 

"HER?!" 

"What?!" Spot jerked up at Sugar's outburst. He turned his head sharply to stare at her incredulously. He wasn't the only one. A few people on the streets also stopped to see what the commotion was. 

"The new girl? You gonna buy 'er pape?!" Sugar bellowed, nostrils flaring. 

"I neva said that," Spot began. He cast a glance to the aforementioned "new girl" as she made her way down the street. She had arrived at the lodging house that morning, laid down her money and asked for an empty bunk. Usually when a newsie came, the first thing they wanted to see was the infamous Spot Conlon. But she had left as soon as she arrived to go sell papes, which gave everyone the idea she was nothing but a snob. Not to mention that it had dented Spot's ego. 

"Of all tha people, Spot. You had ta pick 'er," Sugar glared and shook her head, reprimanding him, before standing up. She brushed herself off then stomped into the lodging house, rigid with anger. 

Spot sighed then stood up himself. He might as well go buy the new girl's pape. He had already gotten yelled at for it. Slowly, the Brooklyn leader headed down the street for the girl. 

His eyes softened, as he grew closer. She had bought 20 papers and by the size of her stack, she hadn't been very successful. A meek expression was plastered to her face as she cried out the headlines. It was a wonder no one had bought papers from her simply because of sympathy. But then again this was Brooklyn. 

"Ahem," Spot cleared his throat as he reached his destination. 

"What?" the girl stopped proclaiming the headlines. She blinked, glancing over to Spot. The instant she recognized the tough famed leader of the Brooklyn newsies, the girl lowered her eyes to the ground. 

"Hm," Spot scrunched up his face. So, the girl wasn't a snob. She was shy. That explained most of it. He smirked then pulled a penny from his pocket. "One pape," he ordered, holding the penny out towards her. 

"What?" she repeated herself, looking up with a shocked expression on her face. She blinked her eyes. Blue. A deep ocean blue. Spot suddenly found himself staring into them; losing himself quickly on the waves they seemed to have swirling in them. 

The girl blinked again, seeing she was being stared at. She ripped her gaze away from his down to the penny he held in his hand. 

"But, Mr. Spot.. sir. You, you just sold all yer papes. Why would you want one of mine?" 

Spot blinked also. His ways had actually been questioned. No one ever questioned the ways of Spot, the mighty leader of the Brooklyn newsies. He smirked then snatched a paper from her arms. He shoved the penny under her nose. "Either you take dis penny and we make a trade or I jus' steal dis pape." 

Her eyes went wide. She fumbled around, grabbing the penny from his hand and shoving it into her pocket. Once again, her eyes were lowered as she mumbled out a thanks. The girl then proceeded to begin walking towards the lodging house. 

Spot puffed out his cheeks. Without even knowing it, this girl was doing what any other newsie would have been too frightened to do. She was walking away without him saying he was finished. Did she just happen to forget who he was? The rough and tough, gritty and grimy leader of the goddamn Brooklyn newsies! He grabbed her arm, causing the frail girl to twirl around to face him. 

"So, goil, what's yer name?" he asked, leaning in close. His eyes were narrowed as he waited for her to reply. 

"Uhm.." the new girl began, tugging on her arm. Spot finally released it, holding back his surprise. 

"Yer name is Uhm? Who named ya dat?" Spot questioned, cocking his head to the side. His puzzled expression made him look years younger. Almost like a child. 

It caused "Uhm" to giggle. She covered her mouth with her hand, trying to contain herself. Spot blinked, straightening up. He didn't understand what was so funny but the soft, gentle sounds of this girl's laughter made a goofy lopsided grin to appear on his usual angry face. 

She giggled again before replying, "Uhm, no, that is not my name, Mr. Spot.. sir. My, uhm, name is Selece." 

Spot smirked. "Uhm is just somethin' ya say alot. I see. Well, I'mma gonna call ya Uhm anyways." The boy then walked past her and headed towards the lodging house. 

"Uhm, okay.." Selece began. She hurried after him then stopped. He probably wouldn't want to keep talking to her anyways. Selece sighed and walked the rest of the way to the lodging house a few feet behind Spot. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

"So, Spot. What was da new goil like?" Sugar leaned over the table, her soupspoon held delicately in her hands. She leaned on the top of her hand, a smirk spread across her face. 

"Well, she wasn't no snob. She was shy, actually," Spot replied. He took a gulp of his soup and grumbled. Once again, it was watery. "Gr, we ain't got no good cooks." 

"Shy, huh?" Sugar spoke, ignoring Spot's other comments. She smiled, looking down at her soup. "Shy.." 

Spot looked up, tilting the bowl away from his face (he never worried about spoons). "Suga, what youse plannin'?" 

"A welcomin' gift," Sugar replied. "A welcomin' gift? Suga, don't be dum'," spoke the boy who was sitting directly besides Spot. He lifted his ice blue eyes from his soup, staring across the table at Sugar. There was something he didn't like about Sugar. The feeling was mutual. 

Spot sighed. This was exactly how he had come to know Sugar. She had been given 'a welcomin' gift' herself when she had first come. And she had gotten so angry with the boy who had done it. She blew up in Snork's face and just wouldn't stop. Spot had to come over and stop her himself. Something about Sugar's angry-take no prisoners attitude had attracted Spot to her. But now all he saw from her was cruelty. 

"Blue's right, Suga. Leave da new goil alone," Spot glanced over to his best friend, smirking. Blue caught the other boy's gaze and they shared a mutual smirk. There was no way Sugar was going to continue with her welcoming gift plan. 

Sugar stood up, defying the two toughest boys of Brooklyn. She quickly spotted the new girl. It wasn't that hard. Selece was one of the few girls there and the only one with such a beautiful hair color. It reminded Sugar of strawberries and cream. She was bursting with happiness at the prospect of making a mess of that beautiful hair as she headed over to the new girl, bowl of soup in hand. 

"What da?" Blue nearly leaped across the table, his temper flaring. "Dun she know nuttin'?" he growled out, fists clenched. 

Spot was also a bit angry. Both he and Blue had disapproved of that idea and yet, still she went. Selece had the courtesy to not actually know when she was pissing Spot off. Sugar had done it deliberalty. 

"Who cares?" came another voice from the table. 

Spot's angry gaze swerved to look at the boy who spoken. Snorks was staring at Spot, no emotion flashing in his dull brown eyes. "Everyone gets a welcomin' gift," spoke the newsie whose love of the water rivaled that of Blue. 

Both Blue and Spot shared a mutual glance before sitting back down. Blue tapped his foot impatiently, waiting for Sugar to do what she intended. Spot slugged his friend in the shoulder, a rare smile overcoming him, "Stop wit' da tappin'!" Blue smirked then returned to tapping. 

Sugar didn't even say anything. She didn't even pretend to trip or anything like that. She simply walked behind Selece, slowed her steps and tipped the bowl of watery yet still hot soup onto the shy girl's head. 

Selece gasped, jumping up as the hot liquid was spilled onto her. Her chair tipped over from her sudden leap causing a loud thud. All the newsies that were busily eating stopped themselves to stare at the new girl. Selece turned around to stare at Sugar who was laughing her head off. 

Selece's eyes grew wide as the soup dripped all over her face. Small bits of carrots and potatoes were caught in her beautiful waves of hair. Her eyes began to water. 

"I.. I'm sorry. Was I in the way?" Selece spoke, looking down. 

Sugar smirked, grabbing the girl's chin. She yanked Selece's face up so their eyes met. "No, I'se jus' dun like ya." Sugar then laughed, a short cruel laugh and walked into the kitchen to drop off her bowl. 

"Dat'll teach 'er! We 'ate snobs!" came a yell from somewhere in the crowded room. 

Selece struggled to find who it was but all the newsies looked the same to her. Seeing nothing else was going to happen, the other Brooklyn newsies returned to their meals and didn't give Selece a second glance. With tears brimming in her eyes, Selece dashed out of the room, soup flying from her hair. She raced up the stairs, into the bunkroom and proceeded to then collapse in a crumpled heap of tears on her bunk. 

"Does Suga bother anyone but me?" spoke Blue, still tapping his foot. Usually he was calm and withdrawn, only sparking to life every so often. But ever since Sugar had arrived, the usually quiet second in command was always angry. 

"She's jus' kiddin'," mumbled Spot. He himself was never this lenient but Sugar was a girl. She was probably jealous, thinking Selece was trying to steal Spot from her. Spot had to give her a break. "'Ey, Blue, can you take me bowl back?" 

"Yea', shoa, Spot," spoke Blue. "You goin' ta bed already?" 

"Yea'," Spot mumbled. 

"Good," Blue grinned. Spot groaned, the only time Blue ever grinned was when… "I didn't want ta hafta bring ya along wit' me. I'mma goin' out wit'," 

"Spades. Yeah, 'eard it all before," Spot said, rolling his eyes. Blue was so strange when it came to his girl. Spot gave his best friend another quick slug to the shoulder before racing up the steps to the bunkroom. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

"Hey, ya in 'ere, Uhm?" Spot asked as he stepped into the bunkroom. He knew she was, though. He could hear her soft sobs in the far right corner of the room. Spot sighed, he hated when people cried. Even though the girl had insulted his pride earlier, he still felt some sort of sympathy for her. 

"Please go away," came Selece's whispered reply. Spot went rigid, his cheeks puffing out again. 

"No, I'm not gonna go away! I came ta check on you and you tell me ta leave?!" Spot growled out. The sobbing slowed down a little bit. He started to slowly walk towards the far right corner of the bunkroom but then froze as realization kicked in. Far right? Corner? He dashed the rest of the way to Selece's bunk and skidded to a harsh stop when he saw where her small form was. "Dat's MY bunk!" 

"Wha.. what?" Selece pulled her head away from the cave her arms had formed. She looked up at Spot from her bottom bunk position. Tears were streaked down her pale visage and her eyes were red and puffy. "But they said it was empty." 

"Yeah! But I sleep on da top!" Spot roared. He was the leader! THE LEADER! He got his own bunk, didn't she understand that?! By the confused look on her face, Spot assumed she didn't. "Argh, nevamind." 

Spot glared at Selece who was still staring at him. He then kicked off his shoes and shoved them under the bed. His plan to cheer her up had been foiled by her ignorance to the rules of the bunkroom. 

"I'mma goin' ta sleep," he annouced. There was nothing else for him to do. Blue was probably already out with Spades and Spot didn't really feel like doing something with Snorks or Sugar or any of the others. 

Selece's stare never faltered. Spot blinked and found he was unable to move. It wasn't that having a girl in his bunkroom was any big deal. All the other girls were there and they all got ready for bed at the same time. That was just the way it was in Brooklyn. The builders of this lodge never actually thought that any self-respecting girl would want to be a newsie in Brooklyn so there was only one bunkroom. They made do and no one seemed to mind. But there was something about Selece that suddenly made the outgoing Spot a little more conservative. With a growl, the boy climbed up into his bed deciding to just sleep in his street clothes for tonight. 

Selece sat on the bottom bunk, listening to unhappy grunts Spot was making as he got himself settled in bed. The other newsies would be coming up to bed soon. Selece wanted to be asleep by then. She flopped onto her back and stared at the bottom of the bed above her. Then with a sigh, she got on her knees and poked her head up to Spot. 

"Hey, Mr. Spot.. sir, I'm sorry." 

"Ah, shaddup!" Spot growled, flinging his pillow at the girl who quickly ducked back under the bed. 

"Goodnight, Mr. Spot.. sir," Selece murmured, pulling her sheet over herself and closing her eyes, falling asleep quickly. 

"G'nigt, Uhm," Spot muttered, trying to get comfortable again. He grew still, closing his eyes also. When he heard Selece's soft even breaths of sleep, he couldn't fight the urge to smile just a little. He leaned over the edge of the bed, staring at the sleeping girl. Then with a content sigh, flopped back onto his bed and fell quickly to sleep, long before any of the other newsies had arrived to the bunkroom. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

New York City 

Manhattan 

October 9th 

1900 

"No, Les. You got it all wrong," Jack said to the young ten-year-old boy. He grabbed Les's arms and arranged them correctly. "Now, do a hook." 

Les, eyes wide, tried a left hook with his fist. A smile spread across his face like wildfire. He glanced up, staring into the eyes of his hero. 

"Did I do it right, Jack? Huh? Did I?" 

"Well, its not bad fer a kid," Jack replied. A half grin appeared on his face as he whacked Les's hat down over his face. "You're gonna hafta keep praticin' till ya get as good as da Cowboy, dough." 

Les pulled his hat back up, eyes shining. "Of course, Jack!" 

"Jack, Les, lunch is here," Sarah commented. She had been watching the two practice fighting while she waited for the food to be served. Sarah smiled as she glanced around Tibby's, taking note of the current newsies all feeding their 12:00 hunger there. Tibby's was almost like a second home. Whenever she was sad, all Sarah had to do was come to Tibby's and there was almost always someone there to cheer her up. No one could cheer her up like Jack, though. 

"Oh, yeah!" Jack proclaimed, dragging Les to the table. He and Les sat down and stared hungrily at their meals. It was almost like they were a real family. Just the three of them. Jack and Sarah and their little boy Les. Jack couldn't help but laugh at that. 

"What's so funny?" 

Jack stopped laughing, glancing over to Sarah. He merely shrugged then began to inhale his hot dog. Les repeated Jack's actions. Sarah smiled, watching the two before she too began to inhale her hot dog. 

"Whoa, hey Spot. Whacha doin' all da way ova 'ere?" came the voice of Racetrack. He had been sitting at a table by the window, eating lunch with his best friend Kid Blink. Usually Race (nor any Manhattan newsie) wouldn't have the guts to ask Spot, the infamous Brooklyn leader a question about his reasons for doing something. Spot went where he wanted, no questions asked. But after the strike a year ago, relations with Spot had eased up. Spot was actually quite friendly. 

"Shaddup, Race," or... maybe not. 

"Well, somebody got up on da wrong side of da bed dis mornin'," mumbled Race. He was being quite courageous this morning. 

Spot narrowed his eyes, storming over to Race. He whacked the boy quite hard on the head with his trademark cane. "I dun need non of your remarks, Race. I'mma havin' a bad da', you jus' shaddup!" 

Race grimaced, rubbing the top of his head. "Dats gonna leave a mark," he complained, causing Kid Blink and the rest of the newsies at Tibby's to chuckle. 

"GOOD!" Spot cried out, twirling on his heels and storming over to Jack's table. He grabbed a chair and set it harshly at the table, plopping himself down on it. The Brooklyn newsie set his elbows on the table and set his chin in his hands. His face was a storm, his eyes cloudy and angry. 

Sarah blinked, as did the other two at the table. The rest of the newsies had gone back to eating. Sarah looked over at Spot curiously who met her gaze with an angry one. 

"What you doin'? I needs ta speak to me men 'ere!" Spot growled out at her. He lifted his chin from his hands, making a shooing gesture with them. 

Sarah looked over to Jack, who nodded his head. Jack had never seen Spot so angry and disturbed before. They had better do what he said. You never took chances with Brooklyn newsies. Never! Sarah nodded back, then stood up and dashed to sit with Racetrack and Blink. 

"What is it, Spot?" Jack questioned, setting his hot dog down. His face was full of concern as he stared into his friend's eyes. Then he spit into his hand and held it out to Spot who also spat in his and they shook. 

Les sat, watching quietly. He didn't want to speak for fear that Spot would send him away also. Les admired Jack but he feared Spot. Spot had been nice during the strike but still Les wasn't so sure if he was the best guy to be hanging around with. 

"Wells, you see. Dere's dis new newsie in Brooklyn," Spot glanced nervously around. He then leaned in closer to Jack and whispered slowly, "It's a goil." 

"You like 'er or somethin', Spot?" questioned Jack, his eyebrows raised in shock. He knew Spot had been real close to that Sugar girl but this was a different reaction. Jack could tell Spot hadn't been attracted to Sugar the way he was this new girl. It intrigued him. What kind of girl could have this effect on Spot? Spot! Of all people! Spot! She must be pretty tough. 

"Well, dat's me probelm. I dun know if I like 'er," Spot complained. "She's real shy but she does dese things no one else would dare to do to me." 

"Shy? 'Ow can she be shy and do tings otha newsies wouldn't dare ta do?" 

"Well, it's like she dun know she's doin' it, ya know? Like, I was buyin' a pape from 'er and she asked why I was." 

"Maybe she's stupid," offered Les. He realized too late that he shouldn't have said that. Spot's head turned slowly, his eyes brimming with anger. Even Jack glared at the ten year old. 

"You get outta 'ere before I bust yer 'ead open!" Spot bellowed, edging from his chair. Les bolted from the table and raced to Sarah. He hopped onto his sister's lap, causing Race and Blink to burst out laughing. Spot smirked. He still had it. Jack just sighed. 

"Anyways, continue, Spot," spoke Jack. 

"Oh, yeah. She also took mah bottom bunk." 

Random newsies around the restaurant gasped on cue causing Spot to send murderous glares to everyone. There were a few muffled snickers. It seemed that strike had damaged his image a bit. At least to the Manhattan newsies. But have no fear. He'd get his image back. 

"She did? Dat's like.. dat's like, jus' sometin' you dun do," Jack commented, shaking his head sympathetically. 

"Yeah, but da weird ting is dat.. I liked it." 

"You liked 'er sleepin' unda ya?" 

"Yeah.. like.." Spot sighed. If Jack hadn't known who Spot was, he would've sworn he saw a dreamy look in Spot's eyes. But Spot never had dreamy looks; they didn't go with his image. 

"So, you like dis new goil but you dun know why." 

"Dere.. dere jus' sometin' about 'er.." 

"Den you gotta do sometin' nice fer 'er. I mean, if she's dat kinda goil." 

Spot looked panicked. He was supposed to know what type of girl would like him to do something nice? He clenched his fists together, brows knitted as he thought deeply on this subject. 

"I.. I.. what kinda goil likes nice tings?!" Spot screamed out, slamming his head into the table. 

Jack was worried. Was his friend on opium? He never acted this way. Especially not in public. Especially not in the presence of other newsies. 

"Spot's lost 'is marbles," Racetrack proclaimed. Kid Blink and the rest of the people in the restaurant burst out laughing. Spot pulled his head from the table, kicking out his chair and storming over to Race. 

"You shut your mouth!" he growled, grabbing the collar of Race's shirt. 

"I'm sorry, Spot. It was jus' a joke. Ya know, funny? Ha ha?" Race whimpered. The look in Spot's eyes assured Race that if he had answered any differently Race wouldn't be breathing right now. 

"You say anything else and I'll.." Spot trailed off as he caught sight of Sarah who had been sitting across Race. A smirk slithered across his face as he sat Race down. "Heyas, Sarah." 

"H.. hello, Spot," Sarah replied as she prayed to God the boy wouldn't flip out on her. 

"Sarah, I got a feminie question fer ya," Spot said. In all seriousness. Race had to hold in the laughter while Kid Blink and Les didn't get it. "Nows, what goils like nice tings and what goils don't?" 

"Well," Sarah began, wording her answer carefully, "Most girls like nice things done for them. Especially by people they like. But you never know just what girl likes it and what girl doesn't. You just have to do something nice and see what happens." 

"Yeah? You tink dat?" Spot said. He didn't take his eyes off Sarah as he pulled Race out of his seat, which he quickly sat down in. Race shrugged and moseyed over to Jack's table since Jack's services weren't needed anymore. "What is a nice ting to do fer a goil?" 

"Hm," Sarah tapped the bridge of her nose. Everyone held their breath, wondering if she'd take advantage of the situation and tell Spot to do something really stupid. No one had a doubt in their mind that if Sarah told Spot jumping off the Brooklyn Bridge was a nice thing that he would do it. "You have to find out something about her. Since you said she was a new newsie, you could find out what she missed most about her home or wherever she was before she came and give it to her." 

Spot's eyes lit up as everyone sighed in disappointment. "Dat's a great ider!" he bellowed, leaping from the seat. He raced out of the restaurant; tripping every so often in his great hurry. 

"You shoulda told him ta do sometin' stupid," Kid Blink grumbled. Sarah glanced over to him, eyes narrowed. She whacked him over the head. 

"I'm not mean like that." 

What will Spot do fer Uhm? 

Will he jump off the Brooklyn Bridge? 

Will Spot seriously injure Race whenever he goes back to Manhattan? 

Will Sarah actually have an important part?! 

Find out next time on... 

THE.. 

STORY.. 

OF.. 

UHM!!!!!!!!!!!!! 


	2. Chapitre 2

Hey guys!  Here's the second part.  It's a lot shorter then the first…

Thanks for the reviews!

**Raven's Wing **– Hey!  Thanks the review.  Hehe, I'm glad you liked the questions, I have fun with them.  I'm not really in the Newsie scene anymore but of course we'll be friends!  XD!  I tried to make Uhm unlike a Mary Sue but hm, guess it didn't work.  Oh well.  See ya!

**Kate **– I'm so glad you like the story!  XD!  Thanks!

**Kaylee **– I have a scene where a few of the newsies go to a show.  I'll add Kaylee in with Race!  Hope you like it!  It won't be in the story for a while, though.

**Kimimay **– Hehe!! I'm glad you like my story so much!!  I hurried up and posted the second part for ya.  I hope you like it and it's not a disappointment!

**Broken Angel **– Yep, I usually find mainly tough newsie girls when I read fanfics.  So I'm glad you like Uhm!  I like her too! :o) Here's my update, hope you enjoy!!!  

Thanks guys!

The Story of... Uhm

Part 2

New York City

Brooklyn

Later That Same Day

1900

       "Heya, Uhm!" Spot shouted over the noise of the crowded dinning room.  You'd think that after all the yelling the newsies do everyday, they'd at least be quiet during dinner.  Give their voices a well-needed break.  But nope, they still talked as though they were on the streets.

       It was a miracle Selece had even heard the voice of the Brooklyn newsie.  He seemed to be motioning her over to his table.  As though he wanted her to sit with him.  But that couldn't be right.  No self-respecting "fearless" leader would want a baby like her to sit with him.  He must have been just waving.  She forced a sad smile and waved back before sitting at the empty table she had sat in the day before.

       "Ugh," she glanced at the soup.  It must have been the same soup they had been served the night before.  She sighed but at least they got a slice of bread tonight.  With a happy smile, she took a big bite of the bread.  Then had to stop herself from screaming out loud.  The bread was rock hard!  Tears began to build up in her eyes as her teeth cried out in agony.

       "You hafta let da bread soak in da soup before you bite it," came a soft, mocking voice from behind Selece.

       The girl turned around, nodding her head with a sad expression on her face before she realized it was Spot.  She hadn't even noticed him come up behind her.  Selece pulled the hard bread from her mouth, taking note of the little teeth marks she had left behind.

       "Yes, I just found that out," she mumbled, giggling a tad bit.

       Spot smiled at her giggles.  He couldn't wait to use Sarah's advice.  Maybe when he did, he'd be able to figure out what these feelings he had for Selece were.  They couldn't be real, could they?  The fearless Brooklyn leader could have any girl he wanted.  He didn't need some little strange girl... did he?

       "Hey, Uhm, I wanted you to come ova to my table.  You comin'?" he asked, making sure not to let any softness slip into his voice.  He had to remain tough at all times.

       "Oh, well," Selece scanned the people sitting at Spot's table.  All must have worked hard to get there.  Maybe she didn't deserve to sit at his table.  And plus, that Sugar girl was there.

       Spot smirked, almost as though he knew what she was thinking.  He lugged a soft punch to her cheek.  "Dun be such a baby, dey won't bite." 

       He then proceeded to grab her upper arm and nearly yank her from her chair.  Selece could do nothing else but grab up her bowl in a hurry and walk at his pace.

       Sugar glanced up, spotting Spot coming back.  Her face lit up into a smile until she saw whom he was dragging.  It was that snobby new girl.  He couldn't be bringing her over here.  He just couldn't!  Spot wouldn't do that to her!

       "You can sit next ta me," Spot whispered into Selece's ear.

       Spot's warm breath, so close to her skin made the girl shiver without even knowing it.  She could barely nod.  The pair finally arrived at the table.

       "Spot, what are you doin'?  She dun belong 'ere.  She's nuttin' but a snob!" Sugar growled out, her eyes narrowed.  They seemed to stab right into Selece, making her wince.  She was used to people her age hating her but Sugar was taking this hate thing to a whole new level.

       "She ain't no snob, Suga.  Just shy," Spot replied in Selece's defense.

       "I dun know 'bout dat, Spot.  She sure dun act shy.  She acts like she's above us," spoke Snorks, a seventeen year old.  He rarely spoke.  His words made Sugar grin like a madwoman.  Everyone was on her side!

       "Yeah, mebbe she's just anudder run-away rich goil whose gonna 'cause us all touble when shes found out," whispered Bullseye.  

       "See, Spot?  I'm not da only one," commented Sugar, a smug look on her face.  She could already see the tears coming to Selece's eyes.  Sugar wondered how the girl could just stand there quietly while she was ripped to shreds.  

       "She ain't no rich goil, Bullseye.  Rich goil's bring more money den she got.  And you should know, you steal from every rich goil," Spot retorted, a smirk on his face.  He wasn't going to make his table angry with him all for the sake of Selece.  He'd just talk his way peacefully out of it.

       "Heh, yer right, Spot!" Bullseye chuckled, turning back to eat his soup.  One guy down.  Plus, Blue should be returning soon from wherever he had ran off to giving Spot some back up.

       "Spot, she shouldn't sit here," came a childish voice.  Spot's eyes widened as he glanced over to Ant.  Ant had come to the lodging house just weeks ago, full of proper English and worldly knowledge.  There was no way Spot could get Ant to back down.  Ant could outsmart him any day and she was only about nine years old.

       Spot glanced over to Selece.  His eyes said it all.  Selece just nodded, this was nothing new to her.  She simply turned away and walked back to her table.  The girl sat down quietly and returned to eating her soup.  She tried so hard to ignore that aching loneliness in the pit of her stomach.  Usually she was good at pretending things didn't hurt her but she couldn't pretend.  Not now.  She couldn't understand why it hurt so much and that made it hurt even more.

       "I'm sorry, Spot, but if that new girl sat here it would cause havoc," Ant informed the beaten leader.  Ant shoved her glasses up further up her nose as she sipped quietly on her soup.  "The table would go against you."

       "Yeah, I guess yer right, Ant," Spot said dejectedly.  He stared at Selece's lone figure, hunched over her soup.  Spot swore he could feel her pain, echoing into his very own being.

       "Heh, she's neva gonna last 'ere.  She shoulda picked Manhatten!" laughed Sugar.  She punched Spot in the shoulder, laughing her head off.  All the other newsies at the table, those who had spoken and those who hadn't, also laughed.  Spot was their leader but Sugar came in a close second.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

       'I'm sorry 'bout dinner, Uhm," Spot spoke slowly.  He stood at their bunk, leaning his arms on the bottom of the top bunk.  The dazed look on Selece's face worried him.  It looked like she was in another world.   Her body jerked and a light came back to her eyes as she turned her head to look at him from her position on her bed.

       "Oh, I didn't mind.  No need to apologize, Mr. Spot.. sir," she murmured, returning her gaze to the bottom of the mattress above her.

       Spot scrunched up his face.  He knew it had hurt her.  It had to.  People she had never met before had torn her down and shunned her.  "But, yesterday with the soup, you were hurt by that."

       "I was, uhm, caught by surprise on that.  I was, uhm, ready today," Selece replied.  

       "Oh," Spot sighed then suddenly just plopped down onto Selece's bed, just narrowly missing sitting on her feet.  He put a hand down on the mattress, leaning into it.  "What do you miss?"

       "Eh?" Selece sat up, pulling her knees to her chest and ducking her head a little bit.  She looked at Spot confused by his seemingly random question.

       "What do you miss most about wherever you came from?"

       "Uhm, you mean my home?"

       "Yeah."

       Selece opened her mouth to speak, thinking his question over. But suddenly she snapped it shut and leaned in closer to him.  Their noses were almost touching as she spoke, "What happened to your New York accent?  You sound almost.. Irish."

       "Eh?" Spot's face blew up with surprise.  He opened his mouth, stammering a bit.  Finally, he recovered, "What you talkin' 'bout, Uhm?"

       She squinted her eyes, puffing out her cheeks.  The two kept a staring contest going, waiting for one of them to give up.  With a grumble, Selece backed away.

       "What was your question again?"

       Spot smirked, noticing Selece had stopped saying 'uhm' so much.  She must have gotten comfortable with talking to him.  It made him feel kind of special.  He shook those thoughts away and replied, "What do you miss 'bout your old 'ome?"

       Selece's eyes lit up, as though she had been thinking about the answer for a long time and was bursting to get it out.  She almost seemed to hop up and down on her bum as she spoke, "Well, uhm, what I miss most of all," she began as though she were reading a school paper.  Excitement flooded into her voice.  "Is every so often, when it was just my mummy and I at the house, she'd warm me up some water.  Then pour it in the bath.  I'd sit there," her eyes went clouded as she paused, lost in memories for a second.  She snapped out of it and began again, "I'd sit there for hours, just letting the water grow cold around me.  And my mummy would sit close by and we'd talk. And talk and talk and talk."

       Spot stared at Selece, nodding every so often.  So all she missed was a warm bath?  No probelm.  "Well, you can take a warm bath tomorra.  I'll make sure no one takes a bath tomorra so you have enough time."

       "No!  If you did that, they'd hate me more!" Selece nearly shouted, surprising Spot.  "I'm going to bed," she murmured, the tone of her voice dropping drastically.  She lowered her eyes, waiting for Spot to get off her bed.

       "You always go ta bed dis early?  Da otha's ain't even up 'ere yet," Spot commented, glancing around the empty bunkroom.

       "Yes, I do," Selece answered simply.

       Spot grumbled.  There she went again with being annoying.  She really must be some ignorant person.  He shook his head, then stood up from the bed.  He took a few steps back, watching her slip under her sheets.

What is Spot going to do?!

Will he go back to Manhattan for help?!

Why wasn't Sarah in this part?!

Find out next time on..

THE..

STORY..

OF..

UHM!!!!!!!!!!


	3. Chapitre 3

Hey again!  Here comes the third part.. I don't really like this part.  I was a little disappointed with the way it turned out.  Let me know what ya think!  

**Kimi** – Yaay!  I'm glad the second chapter was disappointing!  :o)  Thanks so much for reviewing!

**Kate **– Hehe, thanks for reviewing!  You're so nice! ^_^

**Kaylee **– Hmm.. in answer to your questions.. 1. Hmm.. I dunno.  Will they?!  Haha, the suspense!  2.  Er.. even I don't know why I chose the name Ant.. poor Ant, it's a kinda stinky name.  3.  Soon soon!  Once Uhm goes to Manhatten, it won't be long.  But I can't say more then that!  Hehe, hope you like the story!  I'll try and add some cute, quick Kaylee/Race moments for ya!

New York City

Brooklyn

October, 10th 12:01 AM

1900

       "Ow!  Damn hell!" Spot growled out.  He gave a sharp kick to the stove that had just burnt him causing his toe to hurt.  The poor leader was having such a hard time and all he wanted to do was boil some water.  But then again, you have to give him a break.  It _was_ midnight.  "Ya goddamn," Spot cursed to the stove as he gingerly removed the bucket from the stove.  He quickly glanced around then dashed up the stairs, the hot bucket banging against his legs.

       The boy skidded to a stop outside the bathroom.  Lucky for him, the washroom was actually a separate room in this lodging house.  He heard some newsboys slept and washed in the same room.  He chuckled at that, merrily walking into the Brooklyn washroom.  One dim light was lit causing enough light for him to be able to see the wash bucket.  Spot poured his recent load of hot water into it.  He smiled at his work, having poured a dozen other loads in just before.

       Then with a start, the newsie raced from the washroom.  He slowed his pace and tiptoed into the bedroom.  Spot felt his way around, edging for the far right corner.  Every time he heard someone move in their bed, the boy froze waiting to be found out.  But luckily, he wasn't and came upon his destination easily.

       Although Spot couldn't see her, he knew the girl he was standing next to was Selece.  He remembered how she sounded in her sleep.  Soft and gentle like the wind.  Carefully the boy felt around for her on the bed.  He found her quite quickly in the darkness then pulled her up into his arms.  She actually wasn't that heavy.  Spot prayed she was a heavy sleeper then dashed from the bedroom, carrying her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

       "Uhm?  Uhm?  You up?" 

       Selece moaned, opening her eyes slowly.  She blinked as she was met with an up close view of Spot's mesmerizing eyes.  Her jaw moved up and down for a few seconds before she found her voice, "Wha.. what time is it?"

       "Eh, 'round midnight," Spot's face lit up with child like eagerness.  "I got sometin' fer ya!"

       "Show me it tomorrow," Selece mumbled, closing her eyes.  She was just about to fall into yet another blissful sleep when she felt two strong thin arms grab her.  Selece just barely had time to open her eyes before she was dumped into a bucket full of warm water.  "What the?!  Are you insane?!"

       "I burned myself to make dat wata hot.  You betta take a nice long bath, got it?!"

       Selece blinked, sitting there in the water.  Her pajama's were now soaked but she didn't really mind.  "You did this for me?"

       "Yeah, 'cause I felt bad 'bout dinner."

       Selece smiled, staring at him.  She tried to make out the expression on his face.  The light was too dim, though.  Maybe he wasn't such a jerk.

       "Well?  You gonna take da damn bath?"

       Or maybe he was.  Selece nodded.  "Yeah, I can't wait to.  I'll be out in a little while, okay?  Uhm, thanks so much for this, Mr. Spot.. sir."

       "What?  I ain't leavin'."

       "But.. what?  B.. but.." Her face light up in flames and her fingers twitched.

       "I'm gonna be yer mudda, ya knows.. talk to you and stuff."

       Selece's eyes went wide.  Was she hearing things?  Was this truly the fearless leader of the Brooklyn newsie speaking to her?  This must be a dream.  A violent pinch to her arm told her it wasn't.  

       "Um, er.. really, Spot.  You don't have to!  Heh, heh.  It would be way too weird, you know?  In fact, I'm not even that dirty.  We could just talk, minus the bath part?  Sounds good to me, what about you?  Yeah?"  She rambled, nervously and quickly as she began to stand up from the bath.  She shivered as her body left the hot water in the chilly night air.

            "No!  You said ya missed talkin' to yer mudda and I wanna.. you don't always have to be alone, you know," Spot growled out.  Although his tone was angry, the words made Selece's heart flutter and as though in a trance she sank back into the water, staring dumbly at him.

       "I'll leave fer a second," Spot said, causing Selece to breath out a sigh of relief.  The boy slipped out of the bathroom.  He leaned against the door, hearing the girl move around inside.  What was she doing to him?  This annoying little brat was making him feel weird inside.  He wasn't sure if he liked that.  He hated not having control of things.

       He heard water splashing around and knew he could enter again.  Quickly, he peeked his head into the bedroom.  His ears were met with snores and even breathing.  Everyone was still asleep.  Phew.  He slithered into the bathroom and pulled up a stool a few feet from the bathtub.  

       "So, what do you and yer mudda talk about?"

       "We talk about why boys have street accents on minute and then don't the next," commented Selece.  She slunk down further under the water until it was only her head poking out.

       Spot's head jerked up, his eyes coming in contact with Selece's.  The girl's eyes seemed to pry into him, learning every secret he had kept hidden.  Spot tore his eyes away; breathing heavy as though he had just ran a marathon.

       "Are you Irish, Spot?  It's not that big of a deal, ya know?" Selece spoke again, her voice sounding almost smug.  Spot wondered if he would have liked to have kept her 'uhm'ing instead of becoming comfortable. But when he glanced back over to her, he knew he liked the way things had turned out.  She was sitting there in the water he had boiled, her skin a shimmery pale under the moonlight that peeked in through the windows.  Her long hair was swirled all around her as it touched the water.  And her eyes were more wondrous then ever.  Spot rubbed his eyes.  The moonlight was playing tricks on him, she was never that pretty in the daylight!  

       "Oh, really?  Betta tell dat to all da Irish boys," Spot commented, trying hard not to look into her eyes.  He knew that if he dared one peek into them, he'd fall apart and spill his guts.

       "Tell me about your past, Mr. Spot.. sir," Selece said slowly and softly.  She waited for the boy to flip out on her.  And she didn't have to wait long.

       "Why the hell do you care?!  Yer askin' too many questions!  I neva tell no one 'bout my past and dat's the way it is!  You got no damn right, got it?!  Every newsie gots his secrets and I dun see you tellin' me nuttin' 'bout yer past!" Spot bellowed, eyes flashing.

       "I.. I'm sorry.  I just thought," Selece trailed off. "Well, the water's gone cold.  Uhm, thanks really.  It was, uhm, nice.  I'm, uhm, gonna, uhm, go back to bed."

       Spot stared at the girl as she scanned the bathroom for a towel.  He knew it couldn't be cold yet.  The water had been boiling!  He also knew he had made Selece go back to being nervous and shy, again.  And he also knew that he wouldn't be able to stand her constant 'uhm's anymore.  But he wasn't going to just break down and tell her all the things he never told anyone.  She wasn't that special.

       Or maybe she was..

       "Just stay a liddle bit longa', will ya?" Spot questioned, the anger slipping from his voice.

       "Uhm, well, all right," Selece mumbled after a few moments she took to think about her answer.  The girl then slipped under the water, staying there for what seemed eternity.  Finally, after Spot had gotten worried that he had just watched someone commit suicide, she popped back up.  Water slithered down her face and her hair clung to her skin but her eyes were shining.  "I always do that just before my mummy and I start talking.."

       "Tell me about her.  Your mummy I mean."

       Selece's eyes narrowed as she noticed the accent again but she wasn't going to irritate the boy any more.  "Well, let's see.  All my life, it was just my mummy and me.  I never had a father.  I don't even know who he is.  My mummy," Selece paused, staring down into the water.  She splashed around a bit with her hand before continuing, "My mummy worked on the streets but I think she loved me.  All the men she worked fer, they were kinda nice to me."

       Spot's anger rose.  Those men.. they had _better_ have been nice.  He didn't know why he felt that way.  Why should he care?  

"If she loved ya, why'd ya end up here?"

"Well, things happened," Selece trailed off, pretending to examine the wall beyond Spot to avoid looking directly at him.

"Yer gonna hafta tell me what happened, ya know?" Spot said, a gentle smirk flashing across his face.

       "Well," Selece let out a sigh before deciding to just get it all out.  "They'd come in, late at night and I'd pretend I couldn't hear them.  My mummy told me I wasn't allowed to interrupt and I never wanted to.  Usually I slept on the fire escape. Even in the winter.

       "But one night, I heard screaming and a man's angry voice.  But.. but.." Selece's voice choked as she found it harder and harder to continue her tale.  She hadn't told anyone this story.  It had happened too recently and the wounds were reopening mighty quick.

       "But I was trained not to interrupt.  I thought it was just part of the session.  Then morning came and I knew I was allowed back in.  I walked back in and my mummy, my mummy," the girl covered her head in her hands.  The warm water didn't stop her from feeling numb all over.  She didn't want to move.  She didn't want to continue.  She just wanted to block it all out.

       Spot stared at her.  No newsie was ever this open about their past.  Their true past at least.  Spot knew this wasn't the usual tall tale a newsie would tell to sound brave.  Spot actually felt a bit of respect for the girl building up in him.  She had the courage to do something he couldn't.  "You don't have to continue, Uhm."

       Selece looked up at him but it was as if she really wasn't looking at him.  She was seeing something else.  Watching something else.  She began speaking again, her voice suddenly monotone, "I walked back in and there was my mummy.  She was hanging from the ceiling.  I was certain it must have taken that man a long time to do what he did.  There were marks all over her so he mustn't have killed her right away.  He tortured her, my own mummy.  And I was there the whole time.

       "I could have ran and got help.  He didn't know I was even there.  My mummy must have thought I was getting help but instead, I was just.. just sitting outside.  Listening to her die.

       "I ran.  I ran to wherever my legs wanted me to go.  And they led me to one of my mother's customers.  I told him, I told him what had happened but he didn't seem fazed.  All he kept saying was that I would have to take up my mother's job since I was the one, the one who let her die.  All I could do was cry.  He called me a murderer and said I'd better be good at my job or he'd turn me in.  Part of me knew he was feeding me lies.  It wasn't my fault.  It wasn't!  But the other part ate his words and believed them.  

       "He said the first couple jobs I did would have to be free in order to pay them back for killing her.  So I let him.  But, but he was so violent and I was so scared.  I.. I didn't know where to go.  I just came here because I knew; I knew you'd be here.  And you don't let anyone hurt your newsies.  I didn't want to be hurt anymore." 

       Selece finished, breathless.  Her heart was pounding away as the images of the past few days replayed over and over in her mind.  Salty tears began running down her cheeks as Spot watched on, speechless.  Slowly he crept over to her and wrapped his arms around the weeping girl.  She turned her head and buried it into Spot's shirt, letting the tough newsie comfort her.  Neither seemed to mind how terrible it would look if someone walked in on them.

Will someone walk in on that 'holy perverted' scene?!

Will it be Sugar?!

And who the hell writes this crap?!

Find out next time in…

THE..

STORY..

OF..

UHM!!!!!!!


	4. Chapitre 4

Hey again, guys!  Welcome to the fourth chapter.  Sorry I took longer in updating then I usually do!  If I get two more reviews, this story will be my most reviewed story ever!  I'm excited, hehe!

**Chelci **– Thanks for your review!  If you think Sugar is mean now.. just wait!  I'm so glad you like my story!  The really weird thing is Selece says something very similar to your "Sweet mother of Jesus!" in this chapter.  And I wrote it before I saw your review!  Haha, anyways, thanks for the review!

**Kaylee **– Pretty soon you're going to start saying "uhm" every other word!  Hehe, just kidding.  Oh and don't worry, no one does walk in on them!  Thanks for the review!

**Broadway **– Glad you liked the chapter.  Spot _was_ being really nice but.. hmm, I wonder how long it will last?  Hehe, thanks for the review.

**Kate **– Yeah, that was a little weird.  Sorry!  I'm glad you liked it, though.  Thanks for the review!

And now.. on with the story!  Enjoy!

New York City

Brooklyn

October 10th

1900

      Selece slowly opened her eyes.  The sunlight beamed in through the window making her jerk back with a wince as it went into her eyes.  That's when she heard a 'plop' as something hit the water she was sitting in.  Her eyes went wide and she had to bite down her tongue to keep from screaming.  She was still in the bathtub!  And because of her sudden movement, Spot's head was now under water!  He must have been leaning on her shoulder!

       "Sweet Mother of God," she whispered through clenched teeth.  The only relief was that Spot was dead asleep.  Slowly the girl pulled herself from the tub and wrapped the nearest towel around her.  She crept around the bathroom, gathering up her pajamas.  The other newsies would be up soon.  She had to get changed or else she knew Sugar would murder her.  "Oh, shit," seems she wasn't so shy when she was by herself.  Selece had just realized she had left Spot's head in the water.  She dashed over, pulling the boys head up by his hair.  "I didn't kill him, did I?" she questioned herself, putting her ear to his mouth to catch his breathing.  "Phew," nope.  She didn't.  With that worry resolved, the girl dashed into the stall.  Just in time, too.  

      "Get up, ya lousy bums!" came the thunderous voice of Daggert, the man who watched after the newsies.  As Selece quickly got dressed into pajamas (grumbling about how pruny she was) she could hear the newsies yelping every time Daggert hit them.  "Time ta sell some papes!  You wanna sleep all day?  Den get outta 'ere, ya bums!"

       Selece darted from the stall and dashed to Spot.  She gave him a couple harsh kicks in the side before racing to the bedroom.  The girl skidded into the room, hair soaking wet and looking like a human prune.  At the surprised glances of the fellow newsies, the girl shrugged, "Uhm, I was going to the bathroom.  Sorry," Selece winced as the room erupted into laughter and went to get her street clothes.

       Spot woke up, groggy as usual.  He could vaguely remember someone kicking him and seeing Selece run out.  He'd kill whoever kicked him until he realized it was probably Selece. That girl.  She had no idea what his reputation was.

       He took notice that his hair was wet.  A lecherous grin slid across his face as he thought of all the ways it could have gotten wet. Then quickly, he shook it off.  She didn't affect him that way.  She was more of a kid then a womyn, right?  Right?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

       The Brooklyn newsies scurried around the streets, scrounging around for breakfast.  They didn't get nuns like Manhattan.  The church was too scared for the nuns' lives to send them to Brooklyn.  That made Brooklyn pretty damn proud.  They were so tough, even God couldn't touch them.

       Spot walked slowly, looking around for strawberries and cream.. strawberries and cream.  He wanted to talk to her.  After remembering their conversation that night, Spot had an idea.

       "Hey, Spot, where we sellin' today?" came Sugar's voice as she stepped up behind him.  She draped an arm around him, watching the rest of the newsies with a smirk.

       "Suga, I dun think I'mma gonna sell today," Spot said, still searching.

       "Why?"

       "Dun wanna."

       "But, Sp-ot," Sugar began but the look in his eyes made her stop.  She may be friends with him but he was still pretty scary.  "Oh, all right.  I'll go sell with Snorks."

       Sugar brushed past him, catching up to Snorks.  Spot watched the two of them, wondering how they could have become such good friends after that incident with the 'gift'.  But somehow they did.  

       There she was!  Spot perked up, catching sight of those wavy strands of silk.  He raced over to Selece but then remembering just who he was, slowed down and took his dandy old time.  He greeted the girl with a soft punch to her shoulder.  "Heyas, Uhm."

       "Spot!" Selece exclaimed, eyes widening.  

       He loved the way she had stopped using mister and sir with his name.

       "What are you doing? I thought you sell with Sugar," Selece began, searching around for the aforementioned womyn.  She shifted her small stack of papes uneasily.

      "Yeah, usually do but today I deeeeecided to do it wit' you," Spot said, grinning.  He stretched his words to let her know just how privileged she was.

       "Oh, uhm, I usually sell by myself."

       "Damnit, yer selling wit' me!" he shouted, grabbing her arm.  He then stormed down the streets, shoving past random people.  Spot ignored their shouts of anger but Selece, who was being dragged, tried her hardest to say sorry to every single one.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

      "Extry extry!  Plague comin' to city!"

       "Extra extra!  October: Prime Time for colds!"

       Spot watched the interested buyers turn away.  He looked over at Selece, jaw hanging open.  His eyes were nearly bulging out of his head as he slowly and manically stomped over to her.

       "What are you DOING?!" he screamed into her ear making the girl jump.

       "Uhm, selling my papes?" Selece said, turning the statement into a question.  She wasn't sure how she was supposed to answer since he seemed mad and all.

       "You lost da costumers!" he whacked her over the head.  "You can go ahead and tell da true headlines but not right afta I improve it!"

       "Oh, I did that?  So sorry!" Selece hurriedly said.  Spot narrowed his eyes, unsure of whether or not she was being sarcastic.

       "Do you know who I am?" Spot growled.  He dropped his papes to the ground, crossing his arms.  He had a feeling this was going to be a hilarious answer.

       "You're, you're, uhm, Spot Conlon, uhm, right?"

       He nodded.

       "Leader of the Brooklyn newsies and co-leader of the Strike of 1899."

       "Good, yer learning.  So den why do you act so.. so.. so," Spot struggled to find the word.

       "Disrespectful?"

       "YEAH!"

       "Oh.  I never knew I was."

       "Doh," Spot smacked his head with the palm of his hand.  "Do you got no brains?"

       "Yeah, and more then just halfa one."

       Spot froze, hearing his own words coming from her mouth.  He raised an eyebrow. 

       "I always watched the Brooklyn boys swim," Selece admitted, her face turning crimson.  "I was there when you were talking to Jack Kelley of the Manhattan newsies."

       "Yer a stalker!" Spot gasped dramatically.

       "No!  No!  I swear!  I just always thought it would be fun to be a newsie!"

       "So, you stalked me?!"

       "Did I say 'I always watched you swim'?  How do you know I wasn't stalking.. oh, say Snorks."

       "Yer still a stalker den!"

       "Doh," Selece repeated Spot's previous movement, smacking her own forehead.

       "Why?" Spot hissed out, leaning in close.

       "I just, I just always wanted to be a newsie.  It seemed really fun."

       "Uh huh, uh huh," Spot nodded.

       "So, I'd watch them all the time then play 'Make-Believe' as if I really was one."

       "Yer strange."

       "At least I'm not full of myself."

       "What?"

       "Nothing!"

       The two stood there silently.  Would-be customers passed by, staring at them strangely.  They were unsure if the newsies would sell them the papers or not.  

       "Hey, you know what?"

       "What?"

       "You've been wearin' dat outfit since you foist came.  Let's go get some new ones."

       "Uhm, where?" Selece stared at him like he was a moron.  And perhaps he was.  But of course, she'd never say that aloud for although he was acting nice now, you don't get his reputation by just being nice.

       "Yer place."

       Her blood ran cold as she backed away from him.  "Spot, you aren't serious, are you?  I mean, yeah my clothes are there but.."  she trailed off, looking away.

       "But what?  My mudda always told me.  She'd say, 'Spot, you must face down the things that intimidate you or you'll never get past them.'  She was a mighty smart womyn.  So, you hafta go back to yer place."

       "How am I facing things down?"        

       "Yer getting ova it!"  He grabbed her arm, ready to drag her again.

       "No, I'm not!" she yanked her arm out of his grasp.  "But I do need the clothes."  And with that final statement, the girl began to move in the direction of the apartment she and her mother had shared for years.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

       "Deep breaths, deep breaths," Selece murmured, over and over as she slowly walked up the steps.  Spot walked after her, every once and awhile banging into her as she paused to think her actions over. 

       "Will you keep walkin' and stop talkin' to youself?!" he grumbled, tapping his foot as she stood frozen on the second to the top stair.

       "I don't think I can do this.  It was so recent.  What if.. what if she's still there?" Selece suddenly spoke, this time not to herself.  She whirled on her heels and tried to shove her way past Spot who had been standing on the step below her.  

       "You gotta get ova it, otherwise yer gonna have it hauntin' ya.  Dat's not good fer a newsie.  Newsies just gotta live for da day," Spot whispered, no tint of anger left in his voice.  He then wrapped his arms around the thin form of the girl and flung her over his shoulder.  The male then walked up the two remaining steps and paused at the landing.  "Left or right?"

       "Right," mumbled Selece.  "I can walk on my own."

       "I know ya can.  But I wanna get dere before 1987," Spot retorted.  Selece sighed then relaxed in his grip.  She closed her eyes, her head lying on his back.  "Room 57, right?" Spot questioned as he turned the knob to the aforementioned room.  He felt her head move in a nod and grinned. 

       Spot stepped into the dark room.  The door had been unlocked like he had expected but he hadn't expected any of the possessions of Selece and her mother to still be there.  He shrugged then shoved the girl from his back and closed the door so no one would see them and think they were stealing things.  Or to have the landlord see Selece was back and demand rent or some crazy thing like that. 

       THUD.  Selece hit the ground like a rock

       "Ow!"

       "Oh, whoops. Go get da clothes," Spot said in reply to her yell of pain.  Selece stood up, staring wide-eyed into the darkness.  "Well?"

       "I.. I.. I can't go," she began, backing up.

       Spot grumbled, stopping her.  "Just go before dis gets old."

       Selece gulped but his mother's words were taking their effect on her.  Slowly, the girl stepped through the darkness.  She felt around the room expecting at any moment to feel the cold body of her mother.

       "Got no lights in 'ere?"

       "No, the electrical bill was due yesterday," Selece murmured.  She nearly broke down right then and there.  "That was why she did it.  She never worked on certain days but we needed, we needed to pay the bill so, so she worked that day."

       Spot remained silent.  He wasn't used to comforting people.  All the other newsies he was with never said anything about their pasts.  He was sure they were all as sad as Selece.  But none had the courage like Selece to reopen wounds.

      Selece found her way to the dresser she and her mother shared.  She counted to the third drawer and then pulled it open.  Slowly, the girl stroked the clothes her mother always wore.  They were skimpy and sometimes embarrassing but they were her mothers.  Selece pulled a few items out, taking a long deep breath while she held them to her mouth.  They still smelled of the cheap perfume her mother had worked so hard to buy. 

       She then moved to the second drawer and pulled that one open.  Her clothes.  The clothes her mother had bought her after a few wild nights.  She pulled some out, not knowing which ones for the blinds were also closed.

       "I guess I can try to change in the dark," she murmured, heading to the small closet.  Even though it was pitch black in the room, she still felt a little nervous about changing in front of Spot.  She turned the knob, opening the closet that usually held nothing in it.  Whenever she was little, Selece would sometimes hide in there while her mother was busy.  

       Spot heard a scream and he dashed to where he was certain Selece was. 

       "G.. get it off me!" Selece screamed, her voice choking with tears.

       Spot's eyes went wide as he realized Selece was down on the ground.  His thoughts jumped around.  Was it the man who had killed her mother?  He let out a yell then shot his arm out to grab whoever was attacking her.

       His hand clutched down on a cold, bare shoulder.  A dead shoulder.

       "Yer.. yer.." he stuttered, his hand still clasping the shoulder.

       "My mother," whispered Selece.  Spot knew she was sobbing though making no sounds.  He pulled the dead body off of her, trying to find her as she got up in the darkness.

       "I.. I'm sorry, Selece.  I had no idea," he began.  Although he had let go of the womyn, the coldness was still on his hand.  He reached for Selece but she ran from his grasp.

       "I can't stay here anymore!" she screamed, flinging open the door.  She dashed down the stairs like lightning and Spot quickly chased after her.

       But before he got to the second step, Spot stopped at the sound of laughter.  Familiar laughter.  He turned slowly around to see Sugar standing at the door of Selece's apartment.  His anger boiled as he stormed for the girl.

       "Did you put that body in the closet?!"

       "No, I'm not that sick," Sugar replied, staring innocently at Spot.  She then glanced into the room, the light of the hall now illuminating it.  "Only a whore would choose to die naked."

       Spot growled and before he knew what he was doing punched Sugar right in the face.

Where will Selece go?!

Will Spot ever realize he could have just opened the blinds?!

Will Sugar get a black eye?!

Find out next time in..

THE..

STORY..

OF..

UHM!!!!!!!


	5. Chapitre 5

  
Hehe, sorry it's been taking me longer to update.  Life is busy! Gaaah!

**Derby **~ Hehe, I'm glad you like it!!  Isn't Spot wonderful?  ~:~starry eyed~:~

**Kate **~ Thanks so so much for your review!  But Sugar has a looong way to go before she reaches the maximum of her meanness, hehe!  

**Chelci **~ Yeah, the dead body thing was gross.  Haha, sometimes I wonder why I come up with these things.  Thanks so much for the review!  Hehe, that was one of my favorite lines, too,  personally!

**Frenchy DeWolfe **~ I'm glad you like my story!  I think your name is really neat.. hehe.  Thanks for the review!!

**Kaylee **~ I agree, the dead body thing was freaky! XD!  I hinted at you and Race in this chapter.. nothing exciting yet but I'm trying! 

**Broadway **~ Sugar is mean.. but as I've said before she's going to get a LOT meaner!  Hehe, I'm glad you like my story though.. merci for the review!  
  
  


New York City  
Manhattan  
That Same Day  
1900

       "How much to stay for one night?" came a breathless voice. Kloppman stood up from searching for some books under the front desk. He came face to face with a young girl. There were tears in her eyes and she was breathing heavily. But even though the tears had done their work in making the rims of the girl's eyes puffy and red, Kloppman noticed that they were almost as soul shaking as Spot Conlons.  
  
      "A nickel per night. That includes a dinner but no breakfast. You get it from the nuns," he answered. He wondered what the girl was doing here at such an odd time. Most newcomers came late in the evening or early in the day. But he shrugged it off. To each their own.  
  
      "A.. a nickel," the girl mumbled, scrounging around in her pockets. A deep low sigh fell from her lips as she pulled five pennies out. She dropped them in front of the man, looking up at him. "I'd like to stay here for the night."  
  
      Kloppman smiled and was pleased to see the girl smile back. She looked so pretty when she smiled. The old man nodded, collecting the pennies.   
  
      "Thank you," the girl turned, headed for the door.  
  
      "Wait!" Kloppman yelled for her, causing the girl to twirl around again. "What's your name so I can tell the others?"  
  
      "My name? Well, you can call me Uhm," the girl smiled again then stepped out of the lodging house.  
  
      Kloppman blinked. What a strange name for her. She didn't seem like the one to be nicknamed 'Uhm'. In fact, there was a courage and a strength in her eyes that he didn't see in most newsies. Kloppman put the pennies into his register then went back to looking for his books, glad to have a new newsie.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
           She walked into the dinning hall late. The food had already been served and everyone was already in their seats. The moment she entered, the room fell silent. Selece felt her heart pound as what seemed like a thousand eyes stared at her. She wanted to crawl into a hole, let the earth eat her up or at least go somewhere else.  
  
      "Who're you?" came a voice. It sounded sort of harsh causing Selece to wince.  
  
      But she mustered up her courage and let out a small, "Uhm."  
  
      "Yeah? Continue?" came the voice again. Selece nervously scanned the room, trying to pinpoint the boy speaking but she couldn't find him. They were all blurring together.  
  
      "Skittery, shaddup," came another voice, nicer this time.  
  
      "I'm just askin' 'er name. Not my fault she dun know how ta speak."  
  
      "Hey! Guys! You think she's gonna be all right?!" came an urgent voice. This one sounded younger then the previous.  
  
      "I think so, Boots."  
  
      Selece felt as though the room were spinning. Everyone was speaking but who was everyone? She could feel their eyes on her but she couldn't see them.   
  
      "Hey, you ever gonna speak, goil?" this boys voice cracked as he said 'goil'.   
  
      "Uhm," whimpered Selece again. And then she could feel her legs giving out. A light feeling came over her as she toppled to the ground. The last thing Selece heard before the darkness overtook her was a scared yell "I knew she wasn't gonna be okay!"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Poke...  
  
Poke...  
  
Poke...  
  
      "Hey, goil, you up?"  
  
      "Uhm, yes, yes I am," murmured Selece though her eyes remained closed. She could feel the poking continue.  
  
      "Kloppman said you just fainted 'cause you was weak and you hadn't eaten nuttin."  
  
      "Yes," Selece murmured again, wishing this kid would leave her alone.  
  
      "Whacha do to become so weak?"  
  
      Selece furrowed her brow. Since she was_ so _weak, the kid could use some common sense and stop bugging her, couldn't he? "I ran to Manhattan from Brooklyn. Now, whacha do to become so stupid?" she growled out, turning her back to the boy.  
  
      "Hey! Yer rude!"  
  
      "Oh, uhm," Selece began. She didn't mean to say that. She hated making enemies for no reason.  Spot must've been rubbing off on her without her noticing. "No, uhm, I'm sorry. I was just being a grump," she opened her eyes, sitting up on the bed she had been lying on.  
  
      The little boy sitting on the floor by the side of the bed lit up with a smile. "Dat's all right. Me name is Snipeshoota. What's yers?"  
  
      "My name is Uhm."  
  
      "Oh, so you really did answer Skittery's question at dinner! SKITTERY! C'MERE!" the boy named Snipeshooter screamed. Selece's eyes nearly bulged out of her head; he sure had some lungs.  
  
      A tall, curly haired  boy rushed into the room. "What?! What is it?"  
  
      "'Er names Uhm."  
  
      The one named Skittery glanced over to Selece. He looked her up and down before shrugging, "Oh, sorry. Thought you just didn't know no otha words."  
  
      "Yeah, no, I do," Selece spoke, finding herself bolder then she ever thought she was. She shrugged, "I did a total cliché entrance, aye? That whole fainting thing.. complete act."  
  
      Skittery blinked then suddenly burst out in laughter. Snipeshooter followed suit, a crooked grin on his young face. Drawn by the loud laughter, a boy who needed a crutch to walk hobbled in. There was a bright smile on his face as glanced from one person to another, "What I miss?"  
  
      "Nuttin', Crutchy. Meet Uhm," Skittery said, recovering from his fit of laughter. He motioned towards Selece who raised her hand in a wave. Crutchy nodded back.  
  
      "Well, I'm gonna go tell Cowboy she's up," Crutchy said, hobbling back out. He called out a name a few times but Selece didn't care to catch it.  
  
      "So, Uhm, who you runnin' from?"  
  
      Selece glanced to the little boy. She slid from the bed, kneeling down besides him. "Do you promise to keep a secret?" The boy nodded and Selece smiled. She always loved kids that were younger then her. They were always so sweet. "Okay, I was runnin' from," she leaned in, whispering to the boy.  
  
      "HEY!" Skittery shouted as he was left out from the secret sharing.   
  
      Snipeshooter's eyes were wide. "WOW! What didja do?"  
  
      "Where she runnin' from? Where she runnin' from?" insisted Skittery as he knelt next to Snipeshooter. He stared earnestly at Selece who simply smirked.  
  
      "Brooklyn! She pissed off Spot!"  
  
      "And she's still alive?" Skittery asked. They both turned to stare incredulously at the girl who merely shrugged.  
  
      "Yeah but if he comes, I'm not here." They both nodded. Selece couldn't help but grin. For the first time in her life, she had started out on the right foot. She had actually made friends; at least she hoped they were now her friends.  
  
      It was almost like.. her mother had given Selece a part of her. Her mother had given Selece her courage. It made the girl warm inside and she didn't care about what happened earlier that day. Not now anyways. She knew that if she was upset about it now, she might lose her friends and her mother wouldn't like that.  
  
      "Made Spot Conlon angry?" came a merry voice. All three occupants of the room jerked their heads up to glance to the doorway. A handsome boy leaned against the doorframe, a grin plastered to his face. Selece took note of the cowboy hat and knew he was the Cowboy the boy Crutchy had went to get. She also took note of the soup the boy held in his hands.  
  
      "Dat ain't hard to believe."  
  
      "No, uhm, not at all!" Selece said, smiling to Cowboy. Cowboy then entered the room and joined the kneeling party.  
  
      "Kloppman said you needed dis to get betta," the boy said, handing the bowl to her.  
  
      "Yeah, thanks," Selece said, taking the soup and hurriedly beginning to eat it.  
  
      "Hey, hey! She dropped stuff!" came a voice. Selece heard loud footsteps coming up the stairs and glanced to Skittery with a questioning look in her eyes.  
  
      "Swifty," he answered her unanswered question just seconds before the boy dashed into the room.  
  
      "Heya, Swifty! Dis goil ran all da way from Brooklyn! Betcha she's fasta then ya!" Snipeshooter called out to the boy.  
  
      Swifty headed to the group, whacking Snipeshooter's hat down over his eyes before he knelt down also. He held out a heap of clothes to Selece. Selece blinked a few times before she realized they were her clothes she had gotten that morning. She had carried them around with her but must have dropped them when she fainted. She looked up to smile at Swifty. "Thanks, I needed those."  
  
      "No problem, goil. You just better not be faster den me," Swifty spoke, shaking his finger in her face.  
  
      "So, whacha do to anger Spot?" asked Jack, looking quite interested.  
  
      Selece froze. "I'm going to go put these on," she held up the clothes. "I'll be back," she murmured, standing up leaving the males blinking about the unanswered question. She dashed to the bathroom, noticing that it was in the same room as the bunkroom. She shrugged and slithered into the stall.  
  
      "Hey, where's that girl?" came a female voice. It sounded beautiful to Selece's ears. She hadn't heard another girl speak except for Sugar and Ant for a long time.  
  
      "She went ta change," came what sounded like Jack's response.  
  
      "She leaped dere. Purdy fast, doncha think, Swifty?" came Snipeshooter. "Ow!" Selece smirked, assuming Swifty had just whacked Snipeshooter.  
  
      "Hey, Jack, you think it was that girl Spot was talking about?" came the girl again.  
  
      "Nah, she ain't shy like he said," Jack replied.  
  
      "Da one he was getting all upset over?" came Skittery's voice. Selece blinked, realizing she had been listening to their conversation and not even changing. She hurried up, pulling off her dirty clothes. She glanced at the clothes she had grabbed at the apartment and her face paled. The pants were all right.  They were a cute plaid pair her mother had bought for her just a couple weeks ago. But the shirt was a dirty white one she hadn't worn in years. It was going to be a tight fit.  
  
      "Yeah! Da one he liked!" Snipeshooter said excitedly.  
  
      "Snipeshoota! Where is he?" came an angry voice. Selece pulled the shirt over her head, gasping at how short it came up on her stomach. This wasn't happening. She wanted to cry. She wanted to just stay in the bathroom until she died.  Even her mother didn't wear shirts this short!    
  
      "Racetrack!"  
  
      "You stole my cigar again! You think I dun know it's you?" Selece heard a lot of banging. Probably a fight. This was her chance. She could run over to that over girl and ask her if she had a shirt to borrow. There was no way she was putting her old shirt on. Her mother had laid on that.    
  
      Selece creaked the door open, spotting the other female. She looked sweet.  Selece could see herself making friends with her. Quickly the girl dashed out but her plan didn't work. The new boy who Selece figured must be Racetrack stopped attacking Snipeshooter to stare at her.  
  
      "She's gonna sell alotta papes. Dats fer sure," he remarked.  
  
      "Uhm," Selece could feel that same shy feeling overtaking her.  
  
      "Yeah, we know yer name by now," snickered Skittery. The other boys in the room couldn't help but laugh at that, causing Selece to look down. She then quickly dashed from the room and down the steps to the main room.  
  
      "Uhm, you shouldn't be runnin' around like that. One bowl of soup isn't going to make ya 100 percent," Kloppman said. Selece always felt more comfortable around her elders then her peers. With a low cry, she dashed to Kloppman and wrapped her arms around him. The old man was taken by surprise but when he realized this girl was hurting he began to stroke her silken hair with his hands, murmuring softly to her.  
  
      "'Ey Kloppman, I missed da soup, didn't I?" came a voice as the door to the lodging house opened and a boy walked in. Selece groaned inwardly. She didn't want to meet anyone new. "Whoa, whose she?"  
  
      "Blink.. meet Uhm. Uhm meet Blink," Selece pulled away from the grandfatherly man, wiping away her tears. She looked over at the boy named Blink, noting the patch that must have given him his name. She nodded a hello.  
  
      "Nice ta meet ya, Uhm," he held out his hands. Selece lowered her eyes, shaking his hand but keeping one arm wrapped around her bare midriff. Blink took notice of this and asked quietly, "Want me ta get ya a vest?"  
  
      Selece's head jerked up as she stared at Blink. Slowly she nodded and murmured a thank you. He grinned; showing her it was no problem before racing up the stairs.  
  
      "That was Kid Blink. He's been here forever. A real ladies man," Kloppman chuckled causing Selece to giggle a little. "Best friends with Racetrack who is anything _but _a ladies man.  He did manage to find himself a girl, though.." Kloppman trailed off with an exasperated roll of his eyes.  
  
      "Ta da!" yelled Blink as he jumped off the third step. He held it out to Selece who took it. She slipped her arms through it then buttoned the vest up. A giggle escaped her, as she knew how dumb she must look. "You new, right? Sellin' tomorra? You can sell wit' me if ya want."  
  
      Selece looked up at him, eyes shining. "Sure!" They shook hands again. A friendship. A real friendship had been formed.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  


Spot laid on the top bunk, straining to hear her breath again. Hoping that he'd look down on the bottom bunk and there she would be. But she wasn't. Selece had run off and Spot doubted she'd be coming back too soon. He groaned, angry with himself for making her go there.  
  
      What he worried about though was the body having been moved. He knew it wasn't Sugar because she couldn't have gotten there before them. His guess was it was the murderer. And he also guessed the murderer knew the womyn had a daughter that would be returning. Maybe it was better that Selece had left for she definitely wasn't in Brooklyn anymore.  His newsies had been on the alert for her and not one had even so much as caught a glimpse of her.  
  
      But he wanted to see her. He didn't know why. Spot found himself missing her comments and her silly actions. He couldn't remember missing anyone like this before and she had only known him for what.. a day?   
  
      "Heh, she's neva gonna last 'ere. She shoulda picked Manhattan!"  
  
      Sugar's words echoed in his head. Manhattan? Manhattan was known to have the nicest newsies. The most open newsies. Spot jerked up in bed, his eyes wide. That's where she was! Manhattan! With a satisfied smile, the boy laid back down planning on going to Manhattan the next day.  
  
                                                                                               Will Spot go to Manhattan?!

Will Selece and Blink sell a lot of papes?!

And what about Sarah?!

Find out next time in..

                                                                                                                       THE..

     STORY..

         OF.. 

UHM!!!!!!!!


	6. Chapitre 6

Hey everyone!  I'm sorry about the alignment of this chapter.. it seems to be off a bit.  I hope you guys are all enjoying The Story of Uhm and I hope you like this update!  ^_^!

**Kaylee ~** Hey!  It was great talking to you!  Here's the update, as promised.. however there are no good moments for you and Race.  Sorry!  Thanks for the reviews though and I hope you like it!

**Chelci ~ **Hehe, I love your reviews!  Thanks so much!  Oh and believe me.. the story is going to turn even MORE soap opera-ish.  Think you can survive it?  XD!

**Kate ~ **Thanks so much for the review!  I'll try hard to update more frequently!

**No one ~ **Yeah, I tried to not make this story Mary Sue-ish.. my main plan was to try and take all the usual Mary Sue cliches and do them but in an opposite way.  I guess I failed, haha!  Oh well.  I'm glad you like my story!  And thank you for your comments about my characterizations of the characters.. I'm glad they are.. good!  I tried hard! ^_^!  Thanks so much!!

**Braces ~** Thanks!  And here's some more!  Hope ya like it!

**Broadway ~ **Eek, I'm updating more!  Hehe, I'm glad you think Uhm and Spot belong together!  Hope you enjoy this chapter!

**Frenchy DeWolfe ~ **Thanks for the review!  Here's the next chapter for ya!

New York City

Manhattan

October 11th

1900

  
  
"Hey, Blink," Selece began, shifting her papes around. "Can you teach me how to be a good newsie? Last time I tried I got yelled at."  
  
"Shoa," Blink answered her, draping his arm casually around her. Selece tried to ignore the other newsies stares especially those whom she had met the night before. They were all making fun of her. She knew they were.  
  
"It is her," Jack mumbled to himself. He pulled Les over, crouching down to get closer to the boy. "'Member dat goil Spot was talkin' 'bout? Da one you called stupid?"  
  
Les nodded.  
  
"Do you see dat goil with Blink?"  
  
Les nodded again.  
  
"Dats 'er."  
  
"How do you know, Jack?" Les questioned, staring over at the girl.  
  
"She's shy and she came from Brooklyn," Jack spoke. He too turned to watch the girl. She was pretty confusing. She had acted pretty outgoing before but then left in embarrassment and now she was quite cozy with Blink. Jack sighed, shaking his head. "Be expecting Spot today."  
  
Les nodded once more and then the two left to go find David.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Number one thing, neva say da true headline."  
  
"Make one up?"  
  
"No, no. Just.. change it a little. 'Ere, take dis one "Young Boy Gets Bit by Stray Dog.  Dog Captured." Pretty interestin'? Yeah, but not interestin' enough to sell a pape. So, what I do is I say.. RABID STRAY DOG ON LOOSE! FOIST VICTIM LIDDA BOY! POLICE SAY DEY CAN'T CAPTURE IT!"   
  
Selece watched Kid Blink wave the papes around. He was getting a few customers but not as many Spot had the other day. She winced. It wasn't like she didn't want to see Spot anymore but she knew she hadn't faced down her fear.  And he wanted her to face it down.  She knew she couldn't.   
  
"Rabid stray dog on loose. First victim.. a little boy. Police say dog unable to be captured," Selece spoke. Blink stopped his yelling and turned to stare at her. The people he had attracted but that were about to leave without buying stopped. Her voice had fallen into a monotone state. It was like the girl was possessed. Her eyes were clouded over as though she was staring at something no one else could quite grasp. It sent shivers up Blink's spine but he knew that was going to be a good seller. And it sure was. Nearly every single person who had heard her bought a paper.  
  
"Well! You didn't tell me you just needed someone to draw the people ova!" Blink exclaimed, slugging her in the arm. His face was bright and kind but all Selece could think about was when Spot had slugged her in the shoulder. "Where you learn to talk like dat?"  
  
"I dunno, I just do," Selece shrugged, smiling at the boy. He smiled back then returned to yelling the headlines. Selece also returned to selling her papes. They decided to quit when Selece only had a couple papes left.  
  
"Wanna go to Tibbys? My treat?"   
  
"Hm, all right," Selece agreed.  The two walked down the street, chatting merrily about the weather and the headlines and simple things like that.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Uhm, uhm," Selece stumbled over her words. She looked nervously to Blink then to the waiter. "I think I'll have the," her sentence broke off. She had no idea what she was going to get. She had always been bad at decision-making.  
  
"A.. hotdog?"  
  
"Yeah! One of those!"  
  
The waiter scurried away. Selece smiled in relief.  
  
"So, Uhm, I heard from Skittery you got Spot Conlon angry at ya. Whacha do?"  
  
"I called him ugly," Selece replied, shrugging. She had found it was getting easier and easier to lie to these Manhattan newsies. As long as she kept them thinking Spot was angry with her they wouldn't tell him she was here. And Spot wouldn't be able to drag her back to 'face down her fears'.   
  
Blink sat there stunned. He stared at Selece, one eye narrowed as he tried to figure out if she was lying. Blink found himself wishing Bumlets were there. Bumlets was always good at picking out a liar. But Bumlets was probably still busy selling since he never had a partner.  
  
"Why did ya do dat?"  
  
"Because he called me it."  
  
"But you ain't."  
  
"Why, thank ya, Blink," Selece grinned. She had grown comfortable around him like she had Spot.   
  
Their food arrived. Two hotdogs and Coca-cola. Selece's mouth watered. She couldn't even remember eating food other then soup. Quickly, she wondered how they would pay for this before shoving part of the hotdog into her mouth and completely forgetting about money.  
  
The check arrived just moments after they were done eating. Kid Blink looked down at it, his face morphing with worry. He looked up at Selece, a desperate look in his eye.  
  
"Oh, no!" he yelled out loudly. He sounded like he was reading from a script. "I dun think I got da money to pay for dis!"  
  
Selece's jaw dropped. The last thing she wanted to do was get in trouble with the police. Her record had been clean all her life and she didn't feel like changing that now. She struggled to find all the pennies she had earned that day in her pockets.  
  
An older man walked up to the table, a hint of laughter in his eyes. He leaned on the table glancing over to Blink. "Alright, Blink, how much is it?"  
  
"Denton! What a surprise! Meet me new friend, Uhm!" Blink motioned to Selece, still sounding like a horrible actor.  
  
Selece nodded to Denton, offering a polite smile. Denton narrowed his eyes. She reminded him of someone but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Shaking that eerie feeling off, he returned her smile and nod.  
  
"Now, what were you sayin', Denton?" Blink bellowed.  
  
Denton smirked again, "How much is the check?"  
  
Blink handed him the check, satisfied with his work. "Wow, Denton! You sure are a nice guy! I owe ya one!" Blink stood up, patting Denton on the head. He grabbed Selece's arm and the two walked out, leaving Denton to pay the check. Denton sighed. Some things never changed.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"So, we got Denton to pay our bill, right Uhm?"  
  
Selece nodded, unable to speak. Blink had pulled all the newsies that were currently at the lodging house together so he could tell about his 'hilarious' adventure at Tibbys. She could feel it when they would turn to look at her instead of Blink. It sent shivers down her spine. She hated being the center of attention.  
  
"You betta stop usin' his niceness to pay for yer bills, Blink. Ya neva know, he might get fed up and da next day write a bad article 'bout da newsboys," spoke a boy with greasy black hair.   
  
"Eh, yeah but he works for the Tribune now. Dey ain't dat good," Blink replied, waving the boys worries away.   
  
Bumlets shrugged.  
  
"Yeah, yer right, Blink! Today, dey wrote 'bout a murda in.. Brooklyn!"  
  
The room collapsed into laughter at that. Selece stared at the boy who had spoke. Skittery, right?   
  
"W.. what's so funny about that?" she stammered out.   
  
"People get killed all the time in Brooklyn! Ain't nothing new and sure ain't no good story," Skittery replied, grinning at Selece.  
  
"Oh," Selece looked down. It could have been her mother. The story could have been about her mother and they were laughing. Slowly, the girl turned and headed up the stairs to her room.  
  
"Hey! Uhm, wait! The afternoon edition is comin' out soon!" Blink yelled after her. The girl didn't even acknowledge he was speaking. Blink shrugged then turned back to his group.  
  
"So, what did she say she did to get Spot Conlon angry?" Bumlets asked, watching the girl walk up the stairs.  
  
"Call him ugly," Blink replied.  
  
"Nah," Bumlets shook his head. "Nah, she didn't."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"All right! Pay up, fellas!" Race yelled, jumping from his seat.  
  
Jack rolled his eyes, wondering how some newsies were still stupid enough to play against Race. He watched Skittery (no surprise there), Dutchy and Boots hand a couple coins to Race. Cowboy then glanced outside the lodging house, trying to determine how soon the afternoon edition would be out.   
  
"I think I'm gonna go check on Uhm," spoke up Blink. He stood up from the chair he was snoozing on and dashed up the steps.  
  
           Bumlets' shook his head, setting the morning edition of the World down. "That girl is a liar, Cowboy."  
  
"Like the rest of us ain't?" commented Jack. Bumlets shrugged then went back to reading.  
  
"She's a baby, too," Race commented as he shuffled the cards. "Wanna play again?"  
  
"No, Race. I'm not dat stupid," grumbled Dutchy, standing up. Boots and Skittery nodded earnestly though. Race smirked and began to toss out the cards.  
  
"You know what, boys?" Jack spoke, glancing up at the steps.  
  
"What?" replied Race, popping an unlit cigar in his hand. He then proceeded to place his bet.  
  
"Aw, I shouldn't have played again," moaned Boots as he stared sadly at his cards.  
  
"Yeah, me neither," spoke Skittery as he peeked over Boots shoulders. "Hey, I need dat one!"  
  
"Get outta 'ere!" Boots shouted at the cheater. He shoved Skittery away then placed his bet.  
  
"Spot's coming today," Jack said even though he figured no one was listening to him anymore.  
  
"Why's dat, Jack?" said Dutchy. He looked up at the Manhattan leader, running his hands through his hair.  
  
"Remember that girl he was flippin' out 'bout?"  
  
"Yeah, I do!" Race smirked; remembering the panicked state the Brooklyn leader had been in. He then glared at Skittery who hadn't yet placed his bet. "You gonna sit dere all day?"  
  
"Gimme a second!" Skittery said defensively. Race rolled his eyes.  
  
"She's that new girl," Jack said, waiting for any reactions.  
  
Race's jaw dropped, the still unlit cigar toppling out. He jumped to his feet, dropping his cards in his hurry. He dashed to the front desk that Jack was sitting on, "You serious, Cowboy?"  
  
"Hmm," Skittery shuffled through Race's fallen cards. He picked out the few that would give him a winning hand then dropped his bad cards off. Skittery then placed his bet.  
  
"You cheat worse then Race," grumbled Boots as he too shuffled through the fallen cards.  
  
"Aw, shaddup," Skittery replied.  
  
"Yeah, I figured it out today. Spot said she was shy and she was shy last night after ya made fun of 'er shirt," Jack glanced out the door again, waiting for an angry Brooklyn newsie to appear.  
  
"That's not good, Jack. Spot will kill Blink, you know that right?" Race asked, also glancing outside.  
  
"Eh, you never know. Maybe Spot dun like 'er anymore," Jack said. He then went silent, pointing outside. Race caught sight of Spot, storming for the lodging house and raced up the stairs to tell Blink and the girl.  
  
"All right, Jacky-boy," came Spot's cold voice as he stepped into the Manhattan lodging house. He quickly scanned the occupants of the main room, noting that some newsies must still be selling their papes. "You get any new newsies?"  
  
Jack glanced over to Spot, shrugging. "What's it to ya?"  
  
Spot growled, whipping out his cane. He shoved it in front of Jack's face. "Jacky-boy, yer me pal but dat dun matta now. Tell me if you got new newsies."  
  
Jack shrugged again, pushing the tip away. "You lookin' for that girl?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Wanna tell 'er something."  
  
"What?"  
  
"That I'm sorry."  
  
Jack blinked. Bumlets pulled the pape away from his face. Dutchy stopped playing with his hair. Boots and Skittery stopped rigging the game. And they all stared at Spot who seemed to shrink back towards the shadows.  
  
"What? What?! Why dey starin' at me, Jacky-boy?" Spot questioned, glancing at the Manhattan newsies.  
  
"Yer sorry?!' Skittery said, in shock. "Yer never sorry!"  
  
"Well, I'm sorry now," Spot growled. He narrowed his eyes, daring Skittery to say another word. Skittery just shrugged and looked away.  
  
"She's upstairs with Blink an' Race" came Bumlets' calm answer. He smirked at Jack before returning once again to reading the pape.  
  
"Good," Spot mumbled. He shoved his cane back into place. Then the newsie raced up the stairs, trying to remember what he was supposed to say again. What had Sarah said?  
  
~~~~~"Whoa, Spot! What are you doing here?" questioned Sarah when the boy had showed up at her apartment.  
  
"I made her do something she didn't wanna do. Now, what do I do?"  
  
Sarah fumbled around for a response. She knew better then to ask the boy questions because he always got angry when interrogated. And she knew she had better hurry up because she was backed up in sewing.  
  
"Tell her you're sorry, Spot. That's about it," Sarah couldn't even finish her words before the boy was racing back down the stairs of the building. She smirked, hoping she got to meet this lucky girl some day. ~~~~~  
  
"Hey, Uhm!" Spot yelled, flinging open the door to the bunkroom.  
  
"I'll get ya an edition of the Tribune if ya'd like," Blink murmured to the girl. She hadn't said much when he had asked what was wrong. All he could make out was something about the murder in Brooklyn. That was when Race had come up, yelling that Spot was coming.   
  
~~~~~"Spot's comin' soon, Blink!" Race said, flinging wide the door. He looked at the two, breathing a sigh of relief. He was glad they weren't doing anything too friendly.   
  
"Think he'll still be mad 'bout dat ugly thing?" Blink asked, glancing to Selece who was sitting on the floor across from him. She shrugged.  
  
"Yeah, he might be," she murmured.   
  
"Hey, I got an idea!" Blink crawled across the floor to sit by her. "Let's pretend yer my girl then maybe he won't get that mad."  
  
"No, no, that's a real bad idea, Blink!" Race said urgently. He didn't care what happened to the girl but he didn't want Spot to be angry with his best friend.  
  
"That's actually a really good one," Selece spoke. Maybe if Spot saw she was happy, he wouldn't want her to go 'face down her fears' again like she was certain that was what he wanted. Blink grinned at her and she forced on a smile. Knowing Spot was near was bringing back all those bad memories. As Blink wrapped his arms around her, all she could feel was the weight of hers mothers body toppling on her. Even though he was warm, all Selece could feel was coldness.  
  
"No, Blink! She's the girl that," but Race wasn't able to finish his explanation. Just then Spot flung open the door and Blink began his act. ~~~~~  
  
Selece smiled softly, "You will?"  
  
"Yeah, sure.  Anything for my _goil_," Blink said, running his fingers through Selece's hair. He glanced over to Spot. "Oh, hiyas, Spot. What's the occasion?"  
  
Spot stood stock-still. He glanced to Selece then Blink. "Argh, yer so annoyin', Uhm! You think I'm gonna get jealous or something?" Spot grumbled. He didn't understand just why Selece was doing this but he knew it was annoying him. "I'm not jealous, Uhm," Spot grumbled, stomping over to the two. Blink was confused. He glanced up to Spot, confusion showing on his face. The next thing Blink saw was a fist, coming straight for him. He doubled over, letting go of Selece and flopping onto his back. Blink moaned as Spot put his hands on his hips. "See? Not jealous at all, ya dumb goil."  
  
"I saw that one comin'," commented Racetrack from where he was leaning against his bunk. He shook his head; people never listened to him.  
  
"Uhm, listen, I'm sorry 'bout makin' ya go to," Spot began. He stumbled around with his wording. This whole sorry thing was something very new to him. He couldn't remember a day he had ever said he was sorry about doing something.  
  
"I'm not going back there," Selece said, jutting out her chin. "I don't care if I didn't face down my fear. You can't make me," she stood up, using Blink's stomach to push off of. She crossed her arms, narrowing her amazing blue eyes.  
  
Spot blinked. So that was what the act was for. He had figured it out! She thought he still wanted her to go back to her apartment! He smiled a bit, "No, no, that's not it. You dun hafta go back there. I'm just sayin' I'm sorry 'bout makin' you go. Are you okay?"  
  
Selece's face softened. She searched Spot's eyes, wondering if he really meant that then slowly nodded, "Thanks, Spot."  
  
"Wow, is this yer goil, Spot?" came a voice from the doorway. Spot turned to see Mush standing there. He grumbled, when had that annoyance come in?  
  
  
  "Whoa, that's yer goil, Spot?  Damn," Swifty mumbled, peeking over Mush's shoulder.

       "What?  Oh, uhm, no, you see.  Spot and I are just," Selece began.  Once again, she was being stared at.  She hated that.  "We're, uhm, just," she searched to find the right word.  Friends?  Selling partners?  Selling partners seemed to be the best bet; she opened her mouth to say it but was stopped short.  Spot grabbed her round the waist, pulling her closer to him.  He winked to her before smashing his lips into hers causing the girl to nearly scream from the shock.

       "Damn," Swifty said again.

       Blink sat up, rubbing his bruised chin.  Then dropped his jaw, seeing the two.  "I coulda died," he mumbled, flopping back onto his back.  The poor newsie thanked God that he had only gotten one harsh punch for messing with Spot's girl.

       "Woo, they moved quickly!  Wonder what dat 'nice' thing was!" Race jeered, speaking about Sarah's advice.  He chuckled although he was the only one for the rest of the newsies in the room hadn't been at Tibbys that day or were too busy thanking God.

       "I thought he was gay," muttered Mush.  He itched the back of his head, shrugging.  "He never had a goil before, did he?"

       "Nope, Mush, he didn't," spoke Jack, leaning on the boys shoulder.  He had just arrived, smirking.  "He was too busy being tough."

       The present newsies then waited for the two to pull apart for air.  They finally did, causing Race to cheer.

       "No, no, you guys got it all wro-" Selece began urgently.  Her face was beet red.  She wasn't his 'goil'!  She barely knew him!

       Spot chuckled, "So shy," then grabbed her, tossing her over his shoulder like he had the other day.  "We'll be back!"  He dashed out of the room, moving as quickly as possible so no one could hear Selece say repeatedly that she wasn't his girl.

       Bumlets, Boots and Skittery all glanced up as Spot dashed through the main room to the door.  They all then shrugged and went back to the card game they had suckered Bumlets into playing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

       Spot laughed his head off as he set Selece down on the grass near a tree in Central Park.  He flopped besides her, watching her angry expression in amusement.  Spot slugged her softly in the shoulder, "Dun get so mad!  It was just a kiss.  Thought you'd like it."

       "Humph, no.  And I'm not your girl.  That was a lie and you know it," she poked her finger at him.  Even as she said the words, the only thing she could think of was how she desperately wanted him to contradict her.

       "Yer right but if I didn't say that, they'd just tease me to no end.  Say I was lyin' and stuff like that.  If you just admit it, they let ya go," Spot said, staring at her out of the corner of his eye.  "Why?  Do you want it to be true?"

       "No, of course not.  Do you?" it was Selece's turn to stare at him from the corner of her eye.

       "Oh, nah," Spot mumbled. "Anyway, listen, Selece, I'm real sorry 'bout yesterday."

       "Oh, that's all right.  It wasn't your fault," Selece said.  She smiled, glad he had said sorry.

       "Yeah, well, I'm still sorry.  And, Uhm, I'm wonderin' if yer gonna stay in Manhattan?"

       Selece glanced over at him, squinting as she stared at him.  What did he want her to say?  Did he want her to go back to Brooklyn?  She sighed, of course he didn't. "Yes, I am."

       "Oh, well then I guess I'll hafta stay here too.  For a little while at least," Spot said slowly.  He wondered what her reaction would be.

       "W.. why?" Selece turned to stare at him, her eyes wide.

       "Well, just in case, ya know," he hoped she'd let him go on that.  

       "Well, all right," she said causing Spot to breath a sigh of relief.  "Thanks, Spot."

       "No problem, Uhm," Spot spoke.  He glanced over at her, watching her watch the many people in Central Park.  They didn't fit in there but it didn't matter to either one.  Suddenly, and without warning, Selece scooted a little bit closer, laying her head down on Spot's shoulder.  Spot nearly jerked away, staring down at Selece.  But then the boy, cautiously and slowly, wrapped his arm around her shoulders, relieved she was holding no grudges.  It felt so right to him for some reason.  Her head fit perfectly on the knook between his shoulder and neck.  He sighed, these feelings were driving him insane.

            The two of them remained in that position for quite some time, lost in their own thoughts yet always together.

How long will Spot stay in Manhattan?!

Will Race do something mean to Selece?!

Aren't you glad Sarah was in this one?!

Find all this out and more Sarah in..

The next part of..

THE..

STORY..

OF..

UHM!!!!!!


	7. Chapitre 7

Yay!  Here is the next chapter for the Story of Uhm!  ;_;.. I get so nervous whenever I post a new chapter because I think it's going to be a huge disappointment to everyone.  So I hope you all like this chapter, though!  In the chapters to come, it gets really weird and Mary Sue-ish.  I guess my plan to make a situation that looks Mary Sue-ish but then is different slightly didn't work as well as I thought it would, haha!  Oh well, enjoy!

**Geometrygal**: Though your penname has a math term in it, I'll let it slide. ^_^  Hehe!  Thank you so much for the review!  I'm so happy that I managed to make a slash lover like my straight pairing story.  That means so much!  Thanks!

**Kaylee: **Here's the update as you ordered!  Yet again no Race/Kaylee scenes but I SWEAR we are getting to them!  

**Bottles: **Strange romance, hehe, yeah I guess.  I do sorta view romance in a weird way.. guess it shows through my writing. o_o… Thanks for the review!  Glad you're enjoying my story!

**StardustDreamer: **~:~joins in on the dance!~:~ ^_^!  Here's the update!  I'm glad you liked my story!! Thanks a lot for the review, they mean a lot!

**Kate: **Here ya go!  An update for ya!

**Broadway: **Of course Denton was wearing his ultra-spiffy bow-tie!  How could he not be?!  Just for you, there's a lot of Denton in this chapter!  It's to make amends for how long it's going to take Spot and Selece to actually truthfully admit to each other and get together.  u.u;;..

New York City  
Manhattan

Evening  
1900  
  
"You know what?" Selece spoke as she and Spot headed back to the Manhattan lodging house. They walked with hands entwined. But only as an act. Of course.   
  
"What?" Spot replied, turning to look at her. She didn't return his gaze, which gave him a chance to stare at her a little longer then usual. She really was beautiful.  Her features were very plain but just knowing her personality made the girl beautiful to Spot.  
  
"I followed you here one day. To Manhattan," she answered, still staring straight ahead.  
  
"Stalker! I knew it!" Spot shouted. He was smiling though and still watching her. Finally, Selece felt his eyes on her and turned to glance at him. The girl offered him a quick smile before both swiftly turned away.  
  
"Well, not just you. You and all the Brooklyn newsies. I wanted to see the strike in action, ya know."  
  
"Ah, well, that's still stalking. And how come no one saw ya?"  
  
"Because I was better at hiding then they were prepared for!" Selece proclaimed, gloating. Spot whacked her on the head, messing up her hair. "Hey!" she shouted in protest, causing the boy to laugh and drop his guard for just one second.  
  
The two then walked into the lodging house. Many newsies were in the main room, waiting for dinner to be served. They glanced up at the two newcomers then returned to whatever it was they were doing. Spot leaned over; whispering in Selece's ears, "See? Now they don't bug ya." She nodded.  
  
"Hey, goil," came a voice somewhere amidst the group of newsies. Selece strained her eyes to see which one it was. He had a cigar in his mouth. Racetrack. "You wanna play a game?"  
  
"Sure!" Selece released Spot's hand and scurried over to the newsie. She took a deep breath, knowing she had to make friends. She had to make her mother proud.  
  
"All right, da name of da game is.." Racetrack began but Spot stopped listening.   
  
Spot glanced over to his friend Jack who was once again sitting atop the front counter. Did he ever move? Spot shrugged before walking over to the Manhattan newsie.  
  
"Heya, Spot," Jack said cheerily. He felt quite cozy at that current moment. This was one of those nights where most of the newsies had decided to just hang around the lodging house. Jack loved to watch them all. They really were a family. The Cowboy blinked as suddenly he found his Brooklyn friend grabbing his collar and dragging him off the counter. "Whoa, somthing wrong?" Jack questioned as he found himself dragged out of the building.  
  
"You got an empty bunk or something?" Spot asked, crossing his arms once they were completely outside.  
  
"Why? You staying here?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Because of Uhm?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Spot, you neva acted dis weird ova a goil. Why now?" Jack questioned his friend earnestly.  
  
"She's different. And she's got alotta courage, ya know."  
  
"Courage? She can barely talk to anyone without stutterin'!"  
  
Spot sent a murderous glare towards his friend. The newsie then growled out, "Is dere anudda empty bed?"  
  
"No, yer gonna hafta sleep on da floor."  
  
"No problem," Spot said, beginning to walk away. But Jack grabbed hold of his suspenders, pulling him back.  
  
The Manhattan newsie leaned down, whispering into Spots ear, "She really yer goil, Spot?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
Jack rolled his eyes, knowing when his friend was lying. He decided to reword his question, "Does she know she's yer goil?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Dat's what I thought. Spot, yer pathetic," Jack laughed, snapping the younger newsies suspenders back. "And what eva happened to dat Suga goil?"  
  
"She's mad at me now," Spot said.  
  
"Why?!"  
  
"I punched her."  
  
"Why?!"  
  
"Long story."  
  
"Spot, you left Brooklyn while someone was mad'atcha? Bad move," Jack informed his friend.  
  
"Nah, Snorks is watchin' 'er. She ain't gonna try nothing," Spot said with a grin. He playfully punched his friend in the shoulder then walked inside. Jack shook his head; beginning to worry about his friend then followed him inside.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
      "All right, Uhm, here's da deal. Goils are supposed to sleep in a separate room. Dat may not be what you do in Brooklyn but we in Manhattan have dignity," Skittery began. He turned just in time to duck away from a near collision with a gold-tipped cane. "I'm just kiddin', Spot! Gimme a br-," he ducked again. "Geez, fine!  Brooklyn gots dignity!" Skittery breathed a sigh of relief as Spot grinned then went back to washing up for sleep. "As I was sayin'. But we got no other goils, dey all wanted to go ta Brooklyn to try to hit da sack with Spot," he checked to make sure Spot hadn't heard that.  
  
"Hey, Spot! Skittery's talkin' 'bout yer," Racetrack began. But Snipeshooter, knowing how Spot never could take jokes well, lunged at the Irish boy. He snatched the gambling newsies cigar right out of his mouth. Then immediately ran. "Get back 'ere, ya lousy bum!" screamed Race as he began to 'race' (Ha.. ha.. get it?) around the room after Snipeshooter. Every newsie present except for Spot, Skittery, Uhm and Jack got in on the brawl, each choosing sides.  
  
"Anyways," Skittery began for the third time. He ignored what was going on around him. "So, we neva set up da goil room. You gotta sleep in here or sleep on da floor in the goil's room.  Last night ya slept in here since it was so late and all but you got a choice tonight!"  
  
"Uhm, hm, well, I gu-," Selece began. She stopped talking for a second as a loud bang was heard. Selece glanced over to where the sound had come from. She figured some form of furniture had fallen over but she couldn't tell. The mob of males was too thick to see through. She shrugged then turned back to Skittery, "I guess I'll sleep here."  
  
"All right, wonder why," Skittery replied, a perverted grin appearing on his face.  
  
Selece blushed furiously, wishing she knew how to control blushing. Skittery slugged her, sending a rare smile her way. "Bumlets catches liars, I catch feelin's." Selece cracked a smile. She tried to pretend she didn't understand what Skittery was saying. But when she glanced to Spot, splashing Jack Kelley and laughing his head off, she understood completely. But it was just an act.. just an act so the newsies wouldn't bug them.  
  


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Ugh," Selece flopped around on the bed she was lying on. It was one of those nights where she couldn't get to sleep. This time, though, it wasn't because of nightmares. It was because she was feeling guilty.  
  
Her eyes kept on being drawn to where Spot was sleeping on the floor. She grumbled. He had purposely slept right next to her bed, just to drive her insane. And the bed she occupied just happened to be by the window so the moonlight let Selece watch the poor boy. He didn't even have a blanket and October was chilly in New York.  
  
Selece sighed then listened carefully to the sounds around her. Snores, even breathing, and one loud thumb sucker. Selece grimaced, wondering whom the thumb sucker was. She then sat up on her bed, forgetting to duck and whacking her head against the bottom of the top bunk. The girl bit her tongue to keep from shouting out then slithered from her bed.  
  
The girl newsie knelt besides Spot, pulling her blanket and pillow from the bed. She then hopped over him so he was closet to the bed. Slowly, Selece lifted up his head. She tried to be careful but decided it wouldn't matter as she remembered how heavy a sleeper he was from the bathtub experience. So, she slid the pillow under his head then just let his head drop onto it.  
  
THUD.  
  
Selece nearly gasped then had to contain her laughter. The pillows at the lodging house weren't too fluffy so Spot's head must have hit the floor with just a little bit of pillow to cover his fall. A wicked smile came across her lips as she pulled his head back up. And let it back down. She ended her fun quickly though for fear someone would wake up. Selece then covered Spot up in the thin sheet. Taking a deep breath for reassurance, Selece then covered herself up with the remaining half of the sheet.  
  
The girl remained as far away from Spot as the sheet could allow. For a little while at least. And then she could hear her mother, whispering in the night, telling her not to be so shy. Selece giggled before moving closer to Spot. She then pulled the pillow out from under his head just enough for her to place her own head on it. The girl then snuggled close to him, drinking him in. Slowly, the girl's eyelids fell calmly down and she drifted away.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
New York City

Manhattan

October 12th

1900

  
"Get up! Sell da papes!" bellowed Kloppman. As usual, he screamed and screamed at the newsies until every single one of them was up. But today, two remained asleep.  
  
Jack stumbled around the room, eyes still half closed. He opened them just in time to avoid stepping on Selece's hair. The Manhattan newsie growled, noticing the girl had moved to the floor. He walked over to Spot, ramming the heel of his foot into the Brooklyn boys back. Spot woke up, with a painful yelp.  
  
"Spot, get up," growled Jack as he grabbed the collar of the boys street clothes. "You can borrow some of my street clothes seein' as how you didn't bring extras."  
  
Spot mumbled some incoherent words, eyes still closed as he stumbled around. Jack smacked him sharply across the cheek, causing the boys eyes to fling open. The first thing Spot saw was Selece sleeping on the floor. His face lit up with a smile as he put together what must have happened. Jack saw the giddy smile on his friends face and growled, shoving him towards the bathroom area.  
  
Jack then bent down, grabbing Selece's arm and pulling her to her feet. The girl's eyes creaked open. In a hazy, half-sleep mode the girl couldn't remember who this boy was so she just simply smiled then began to fall back asleep while standing. Jack rolled his eyes, "Wake up!" he bellowed in her ear.   
  
"Yessir," she mumbled. Cowboy let go of her and the girl stumbled around until she reached the bathroom. She rubbed her eyes, getting the sleepiness out of them. Then her jaw fell open.  
  
"Mudda Mary!" cried Blink as he ducked behind Snoddy. He had been planning on taking a bath, forgetting they had a female in their midst now. Snoddy burst out laughing which caused him to be hit by Blink who was well hidden behind the other boy.  
  
"Uhm, I'm really sorry," Selece began, backing out of the bathroom. The room was silent, all eyes on her. "I'll, uhm, I'll ju.. just be downstairs!" Selece said, trying hard not to stare at the boys, half of whom were in their underwear.  
  
"Where ya goin', Uhm?" came a mocking voice from behind her. Selece's eyes went wide as two arms wrapped themselves around her. "It's nothing you haven't seen!  Although much _much _smaller."  
  
"Spot!" Selece nearly screamed, craning her neck to look behind. She sent a murderous glare at the boy who was having too much fun watching her squirm.  
  
"Kid, you can take a bath. She ain't gonna watch," at Spot's words, the aforementioned newsie poked his head out over Snoddy's shoulder. "Everyone, go back to like you was. Just pretend she's a guy wit' breasts!" Selece's face turned crimson and she wanted so terribly to hit the Brooklyn newsie but his arms had her in a vise like hold.  
  
"I think if I pretend dat, I'll turn gay!" came Race's voice. His smartass remarks made the silent newsies burst into laughter and then continue on with what they had been doing. Kid Blink even decided to take the quick bath!  
  
Spot slipped one hand over Selece's eyes, "I knew you was watching him," he snickered, still holding the girl with one arm. He slowly released her, sliding his hand from her eyes. Selece whirled on her heels, eyes blazing.  
  
"I hate you, Spot Conlon!" she hissed out, eyes narrowed.  
  
Spot grinned dangerously as he wrapped his arm round her waist and pulled her closer to him, "I know dat's not possible," he said smugly. "You can't hate me."  
  
"Oh yeah?" Selece growled out, causing Spot to laugh. He had never seen her this angry. "And how do you know that?"  
  
"'Cos I'm Spot Conlon," he gloated as though that were supposed to mean something to the girl. "And plus, I saw where you ended up dis morning. On da floor wit' me!"  
  
Kid Blink sat watching the two while Crutchy pumped water on him. It had been about a week since he had bathed. Crutchy knew where his friend was looking and grinned, "Dey a real cute couple, doncha think, Blink?"  
  
"Yeah," Blink nodded, rubbing the cold water up and down his arms. He was really thanking God right now for letting him off with just a punch (even though the bruise still hurt). "But you think he really likes her? Neva seen da tough Spot Conlon wit' a goil."  
  
"Nah," came Jack's voice as he walked past the two, overhearing their conversation. Both Crutchy and Blink 'blinked' (Haha! Too funny!) at the unexpected comment. They turned to stare at Jack who was looking quite angry. "But if he keeps dis up," Jack didn't finish his sentence. He just shook his head then walked off. Probably to steal the shaving cream from Race.  
  
"Mebbe you got a chance den, Blink!" Crutchy said, sounding as though that really did make him happy.   
  
"Ha!" Blink snorted, standing up from the bathtub and hurriedly grabbing a towel before Spot stopped having Selece's attention.  
  
Selece blinked, having completely forgotten she had slept on the floor that night. Slowly a blush crept across her face but she denied it by growling out again, "I hate you!"  
  
"Nah, you don't."  
  
"Yes, I do!"  
  
"Naah," the fact that Spot was so sure of this. And gloating too was driving Selece insane. Selece grumbled to herself, jerking herself away from his hold. She then stormed away to go wash up, ignoring the other newsies.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Hey, Blink! Wait up!"  
  
"Holy.. shiet," Kid Blink gasped out as he glanced behind him. The girl of the toughest newsie ever was chasing after him. He could see the tombstone now 'Killed by Jealous Brooklyn Leader'. He sent a quick prayer to God before flashing his usual smile, "Yeah, Uhm? Whacha need?"  
  
"Aren't we going to sell together?"   
  
Blink paled. "Oh, I thought you was gonna sell wit' Spot, since yer his goil."  
  
Selece waved his worries off, skipping up to him. "Nah, I want to sell with you!" She linked her arm with his, face bright, "Where shall we sell today?"  
  
"Uh, well," Blink stammered as the girl began leading him away from the distribution center. He glanced around to catch a glance of Spot. And he was successful. The boy gulped, taking note of the angry expression on the Brooklyn newsies face.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"You can sell with us, Spot," came a voice from behind him. Spot turned to come face to face with David Jacobs. David smiled at him.  
  
"I'll just tag along. I dun sell in Manhattan," Spot said firmly. Dave nodded, being abnormally quiet. "So, Dave how's da family?"  
  
Dave blinked. "Well, pretty good. My pops still looking for a job and things like that. No big deal."  
  
Back to being the Mouth. Spot smirked, slugging Dave in the arm. He then glanced around for Jack and his shadow. He didn't have to look far for the Cowboy and Les were just heading over to him and Dave. All four waved to one another.  
  
"So, Spot, yer goil ditch ya?" Jack said, laughter hidden deep in his voice.  
  
"Shaddup," Spot grumbled. He then glared down at Les who was fighting the air with his wooden sword. Les froze then sheepishly put down the sword. Spot smirked; he still got it!  
  
"Gettin' ditched by a shy goil, real tough," Jack said, his voice returning to seriousness. All four had begun to walk with Dave and Les in the front, proclaiming the headlines while Jack and Spot lagged behind. "I'm worryin', Spot. Havin' a goil might be bad fer ya."  
  
Spot stared at his friend like he had grown an extra head, "Why? All me boys got goils, I just took awhile longa."  
  
"Yeah but dere goils are either one-night stands or tough. Uhm seems to be neither. It's bad fer ya, Spot. How ya gonna be tough when yer kissin' and teasin' a goil who stammers? Especially since, from what I've heard she ain't very popular in Brooklyn."  
  
"Aw, shaddup, you dun know what yer talkin' 'bout," grumbled Spot. But he could see his friends point. All the other boy's girls could always fight for themselves so they supported the tough image every boy had. But Selece, Selece was strong but in ways other then everyone else. Jack had succeeded in planting a seed of doubt in Spots mind. Now the boy wasn't so sure if he really should have feelings for the girl.  
  
Jack smiled, seeing the torment blatantly expressed on his friends face. He knew it was going to be a pain but it would be better in the end. If Spot didn't get rid of this baby, he'd be more susceptible to people challenging him. Jack then began to proclaim the headlines, leaving his friend to sort everything out.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Selling in front of the Tribune office? Is that really such a good idea, Blink?" Selece questioned, eyeing the building they were standing in front of nervously. All she could think about was that article the newsies had been laughing about. The one about the murder. And all she could think about was how that article might have been about her mother. She gulped, almost smelling the decay of her mother. Selece felt sick all of a sudden.  
  
"Yeah, no one likes da Tribune so it dun really matta if we sell in front of it or even in it!" Blink laughed. He then noticed the pale, scared look on Selece's face. The kid suddenly remembered how she had been so upset about the article Denton had written. "Hey, my friend dat paid our bill dat one time, works for da Tribune," Blink smirked. The man had quit the Sun after he had helped them print out the "Newsies Banner" and the Tribune quickly hired him. "He even wrote dat article 'bout the murda in Brooklyn. You wanna go see if we can snatch a copy?" Blink looked at Selece, waiting for some sort of reaction.  
  
Selece stood still for a minute. There was always that chance it had been about her mother. And maybe there was news about the murderer. Maybe he had been caught. But then again, what if it was about her mother? And what if it made fun of her? "Street Whore Gets What She was Paid For!" Selece winced but slowly nodded to Blink. The male newsie smiled, draping his arm around her for support as they began to walk up the steps to the Tribune.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Knock...  
  
Knock...  
  
Knock...  
  
Denton looked up from his desk. He groaned, hating to be interrupted on his morning break. Grumbling, he called for the knocker to come in, straightening up in his chair. The journalist was surprised when a large, burly man came busting in. Tears were brimming in the big mans eyes. Denton stood up, blinking a few times.  
  
"Good morning, sir," Denton said, holding out his hand. "Is there something I can do for you?" Denton winced as the mans hand grasped his and shook, nearly pulling Denton's arm from his socket.   
  
"Yes, my name is Raymon, I'm a worker in a Brooklyn factory. Uhm," the man rubbed his eyes with his large fingers. "Uhm, I was wonderin' if you got any information on the daughter of the murdered womyn you did an article for."  
  
Denton blinked, shuffling through his papers nervously. "You mean the article 'Gruesome Death in Building: Unknown or Uncared?'" Denton remembered that article well. He was assigned to it and had to travel to Brooklyn and actually look at the womyn's beaten body. He also remembered how the police were unable to find the body a few hours after he had left.   
  
"Y-yes," whispered Raymon, staring down. He continually mashed his hat together, tears beginning to trickle down his cheeks.  
  
"I'm sorry, sir but I didn't even know that womyn had a daughter," Denton murmured sympathetically.  
  
"Are you sure? She had run away from me when she found out. I checked out the newsie places in Brooklyn. They said they saw her but that she ran to Manhattan," Raymon looked earnestly in Denton's eyes. "Are you sure you have nothing about her? She's my daughter and.. I.. I.. miss her terribly."  
  
Something clicked in Denton's mind.   
  
~~~~~"So, Uhm, I heard from Skittery you got Spot Conlon angry at ya and had ta run away from Brooklyn. Whacha do?"   
"I called him ugly," Selece replied, shrugging. ~~~~~  
  
           He could hear Kid Blink and that strange new girl talking. She had just arrived that day. Just one day after he had done the article. And he remembered how familiar she had looked. It all came together! That girl, the new newsie must be the daughter of that murderer womyn! In fact, now that Denton thought about it enough, the two had looked almost exactly alike.  
  
"Mr. Raymon, I actually think I do know something about your daughter. But, please, don't get your hopes up. I may be wrong," Denton grabbed his coat. "Come with me, sir."  
  
"HEY! DENTON!" Blink flung the door open, nearly hitting the aforementioned reporter. He didn't care about creating a ruckus in the office. It was only the lousy Tribune after all and most, if not all, reporters were out on early morning breaks. The lazy bums! Selece twiddled her thumbs, standing hidden behind Blink, not wanting Denton to get angry.  
  
"Blink!" Denton gasped out, he looked back to the weeping man he had just been talking too. How embarrassing. "Blink, Blink, can we please talk later? I'm trying to help this man," he motioned to Raymon. Kid Blink smiled at the man, not caring that he was crying.  
  
"Yeah, sure, me and me friend are just gonna grab a copy of Monday's pape," Blink said, pulling Selece out from behind him. Selece smiled sheepishly then waved to Denton.   
  
"SELECE!"  
  
All three people froze, turning to stare at the once tearful man. He had screamed so suddenly and so loudly. Selece's eyes went wide and in an instant she whirled around on her heels. The girl dashed from the room so suddenly Blink just stood there staring for a few seconds.  
  
"Get her! That.. that's my daughter!" cried Raymon.   
  


Is Selece really Raymon's daughter?!

Does the Tribune really suck as bad as Blink says?!

And who the hell gets 'early morning breaks'?!

Find out next time in..

THE..

STORY..

OF.. 

UHM!!!!!!!  
  
  



	8. Chapitre 8

Hey!  Sorry this update was so long in coming!  I didn't mean for it to happen that way!  It just did!  Oh well, here's the latest chapter!  Enjoooy!

**Alexeil **– Hehe, I'm glad you like my version of Spot.  I really like it myself!  I remember watching the movie when I was younger and just thinking what a big dork Spot would be when it came to love and stuff like that.  Then I read fanfics of him and I was like "Er.. I guess my view is distorted.." but I'm glad other people like it too! ^_^ That was really long… well, anyways.. thanks for the review!

**Kaylee **– I _will _get you into the fic!  It's my mission.  It won't be long.. but you and Race will be in here! Thanks for always reviewing!

**Broadway **– Ah, yes, Denton is a wonderful man.  He just made the whole movie, don't ya think?  Hehe!  Oh and I'm making Jack mean to Spot for two reasons; 1. He doesn't want to see his friend's reputation tarnished by Uhm and 2. I needed him to act that way for the plot, hehe!  Glad you're liking my story, enjoy this update and thanks for reviewing!

**Geometrygal **– Yaay!  I'm glad you don't see as too Mary Suish although your thoughts may change with this chapter.. eerr.. But there are people who will never end up liking her!  I won't name them but I'm sure people can tell already.. anywhoville!  Thanks for your reviews!  And for reminding me that I didn't finish my math homework… hehe!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Blink could tell that Selece had recognized the man. And for whatever reason, didn't want to be caught by him. So, being the friend he was, Blink jumped in front as Raymon tried to dash from the room after the girl. Raymon growled and with one simple sweep of his hand sent Blink tumbling to the ground. Then he and Denton chased after the girl. Blink moaned, actually wishing Spot were here for once.  
  
Selece was crying. She ran through the halls of the Tribune, forgetting which way was right and which way was left. All she knew was she had to get out of there.  She had to get out of there as fast as she could. The door, she had found it! With a cry of joy, she flung the door open and raced out. But she had been wrong. It was the wrong door. She was just in another empty office. Selece nearly collapsed right then and there, crying her eyes out. Drawing herself back together, though, she simply sighed then flung her papers to the ground as they were only weighing her down. Selece then raced out of the office.  
  
BAM!  
  
"Oof," Selece fell onto her back as she ran smack into the large man she had been running from. Her eyes grew even wider with fear as she backed up, "No.. what.. what are you doing here?"  
  
"Coming to pick up my poor misguided daughter. You poor thing," Raymon glanced out to Denton who was staring at the two curiously. "Don't worry, we'll be right back," he then slammed the door shut so hard the blinds on the window shook.  
  
A twisted little smile slithered across Raymon's face as he bent down. He grabbed hold of the girls collar, pulling her face to his. He snickered, straightening up while still holding her, "What? You think you were just going to run off like that? End of story?"  
  
"Denton will know you're lying. I.. I'll scream!" Selece stammered, tears brimming in her eyes.   
  
"Oh? You will?" with his free hand, Raymon reached into his pocket. Another snicker escaped him as he flipped the blade open on his pocketknife. He lightly placed the tip of the blade in the middle of her stomach then lightly dragged it up to her neck, not drawing any blood. "Nah, I don't think you will."  
  
"Y... you're disgusting," Selece gasped out. She could feel her mother again, murmuring to her. The girl's eyes narrowed as she jutted up her chin. "Go ahead, Raymon. Do it.. but how shall you explain it to Denton?" she smirked, watching the expression on Raymon's face change. Now she had the upper hand. With one firm swift kick to the mans crotch, Selece was released. She hit the ground with a thud but was up and reaching for the door in a second.  
  
"I don't think so, little goil," growled Raymon although his voice was higher then usual. He grabbed hold of one of the girl's legs and pulled her to the ground. "Remember? You owe me."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Denton! Where is she?!" screamed Kid as he rounded the corner. He stared at the reporter earnestly.  
  
"She's in the room with her father," Denton said, pointing to the closed door.  
  
Blink nodded then moved to enter it but Denton stopped the boy, "No, don't. Leave the two alone."  
  
"But can't you see she doesn't want to go wit' da man?!" Blink screamed, nearly punching Denton right then and there.   
  
"Her mother was just murdered, I think she is just in denial. Her father just wants to help her, Kid. Please understand," Denton looked at Blink pleadingly.  
  
"Well, fine but if I hear any screams I'm gonna go in dere and kill dat man," Blink said firmly. He crossed his arms, a sour expression on his face as he waited for the two to come back out.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Selece struggled to get out from underneath the man who had pinned her down. Tears were streaming down her cheeks, "I don't owe you anything, Raymon. And I will scream if you do not let me up."  
  
"Oh, no! Don't scream, Selece. You know how scared I am of those two puny boys outside the door," he leaned in closer, his foul breath overtaking Selece's senses. "You know I can kill them, Selece. Just like I did yer filthy little bitch of a mother."  
  
"What?!" Selece screamed, her struggling beginning with new fury. Raymon just had to laugh as he continued his tight hold of her wrists, pinning them to the ground.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Kid Blink lunged for the door at Selece's yell. But once again Denton stopped him, "Just wait, Kid."  
  
"But," Blink sighed, defeated. And waited again.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Isn't it funny that the man you ran to fer help the day you found your mother dead was the one who killed her? I did!" Raymon laughed again as he released one wrist. "Oh, you're so cute, Selece!" he pinched her cheek, laughing his head off. Selece growled, using her free hand to claw at the mans face.  
  
Raymon stopped laughing, growling again. He grabbed her wrist, slamming it back down. "It was your fault, Selece. I knew you were on the fire escape. But you didn't try to help her. You wanted your mother to die. You let her die. What do you think all your new friends are gonna say? You can't face them again because I'm sure none of them killed their mothers!"  
  
"No..n..no.. I didn't let her die. I thought, I thought," Selece was sobbing now. She could barely control herself anymore.  
  
"It was part of the session? Oh, please Selece, who do you think is going to fall for that?"  
  
" Leave me alone. Why are you doing this, Raymon? You were so nice to my mother and I," Selece whispered, her voice hoarse.  
  
"Oh, your mother was so old. It wasn't any fun with an old lady. We needed someone young. Someone like you," Raymon licked his lips. "But yer mother wanted none of that so we had to get rid of her."  
  
"We?" Selece dared to ask.  
  
"Oh, all yer mothers regular men," Raymon laughed. He hadn't had this much fun in a while. "So, now yer mine. And you will work fer free."  
  
"You killed her. You killed my mother just because you wanted better sex," Selece said, her voice falling into that strange monotone state. "I'll kill you, Raymon. I don't care what you do. I'll kill you."  
  
Raymon blinked a few times. That voice always creeped him out. It always made him think she was possessed. The man quickly stood up, pulling her up. "I'll kill yer friends if you do anything, Selece," he said quietly. Raymon then draped his arms around Selece. "Open the door," he commanded. And Selece did so.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Kid Blink stared as the door slowly slid open. His eye went wide as he saw such a defeated Selece. Her cheeks were soaking wet with tears, her eyes downcast. There was definitely something wrong here. But he knew he couldn't beat that large man on his own. Especially when Denton wasn't on his side.   
  
All Blink could do was watch as Raymon slowly led Selece down the hall to the exit door. Raymon glanced back, "Thank you so much, Mr. Denton. You.. you just don't understand how much this means to me." Denton nodded, feeling like he had done a good deed. "Selece and I are going to help each other heal. Then visit Leza's grave when we're ready, right Selece?" Selce could do nothing but nod. "Goodbye, Mr. Denton."  
  
Selece waited until they were just two steps from leaving the Tribune building. A few workers who were returning from their breaks gave the two strange looks. But after all, it was a newspaper office so they shrugged it off. Selece took a big breath, looking back to the place where Blink and Denton still stood. And then she screamed as loud as she could.

"Blink! Get Spot! Hurry!"  
  
Will Blink get Spot?

Will Spot kick Raymon's ass?

Will this turn.. dirty?!

Find out in the thrilling ninth part of…

THE..

STORY..

OF..

UHM!!!!!!!!!!  
  
  



	9. Chapitre 9

Mizu-chan's Note: Aah.. here's yet another update of the Story of Uhm!  I'm not feeling too well because a friend of mine told me my writing sucked horribly.  I'm sorry, guys!  .!!  Let me know some of the many ways I can improve!

**Kaylee **~ Thanks for always reviewing!  ^_^!  I hope you like this new part!

**Geometrygal **~ Hehe, I'm glad you think Spot and Uhm should be together!  I love Blink, too.. but you're right, he just doesn't work!  Thanks for the review!!

**Kate **~ Thanks so much for reviewing!  It's all right if you don't always review.. just as long as you read my story and enjoy it!  Thank you very much!! 

**Alexeil **~ I know I was mad at Denton too!  But someone had to do it!  Thanks for the review! ^_^

**Ella ~** Thank you for all your kind words!  I'm really glad you are enjoying the Story of Uhm.  And here's the ninth part!!

"I knew it! He was lying!" Blink growled out, glaring at Denton. The boy then raced for the door, hoping to catch up to Selece and the man who had taken her. But Blink was too late. He rushed outside, glancing around quickly for any sight of Raymon and Selece but found none. With a growl, Blink raced for the lodging house, not even looking back as Denton shouted to him.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"I swear! Dey musta cheated! Da horse was in the back and den three seconds lata, he wins! I ain't neva goin' to da tracks again. I'm gonna bet on dog races from now on!  I promised to take Kaylee out tonight and I don't have any money!  What am I gonna say to 'er?! Huh!?" grumbled Race. He crossed his arms, looking pouty. Once again, he had went to the early morning races and decided to sell only sell the afternoon edition of the papers. They weren't out yet but he had left the tracks early because of "cheaters".  
  
"Maybe they drugged da horse," joked Jack. Of course he, Les and David had sold off all their papes early. And of course Dave didn't want to do anything exciting.   
  
"Dey probably did!" yelled Race, his face growing red.  
  
"Shaddup, Race. You just stink at bettin'," grumbled Spot. He was getting antsy. The only people at the lodging house were he, Race, Jack, Les and David. He wanted to go out searching for Selece and Blink. Who knew what they were doing? And from what he had seen, Selece had formed a pretty good friendship with Blink. Plus she had left pretty angry this morning. The boy grumbled some incoherent curses and moved around in his chair.  
  
Race glared at Spot but as soon as Spot glared back, Race averted his eyes.   
  
The four males then fell to silence, each lost in their own thoughts. Race was still thinking about the 'rigged' race and Kaylee while Jack was busy worrying about Spot. David, well, we're just not gonna go there. Les was still playing with his wooden sword. And Spot was having fun playing "10 Ways to Soak a Boy with a Patch" in his mind.  
  
"Hey, Spot! Ow! What da hell was dat for?!" screamed Blink. He had just raced around the corner to give Spot some very important news and the Brooklyn newsie had punched him! Blink stumbled back, holding his soon-to-be bruised eye.  
  
"Oh, whoops, I didn't see ya dere," Spot said with a shrug. He stepped over to Blink, patting him on the shoulder. "C'mon, you know dat didn't hurt."  
  
"Yeah, sure, it didn't hurt," Blink said, taking his hand away with a wince.  
  
"Now, were you gonna say something?"  
  
"Yeah! Uhm's father came and took her!"  
  
Spot blinked, not catching on, "But she dun got a father."  
  
"Dat's why it's important!"  
  
Spot blinked again, glancing over to Jack then back to Blink, "Guess she's not gonna be a newsgoil no more."  
  
"You gonna head back to Brooklyn then, Spot?" asked Jack, grinning from ear to ear.  
  
"Yeah, I guess so," Spot replied, trying to keep his voice in its normal tone. But he knew he was going to miss Selece a lot.  
  
"What da hell?" Blink grabbed Spot by the shoulders, shaking him. "Doncha get it?! Uhm dun got no father but some big man named Raymon took her saying he was her father!"  
  
Spot blinked, finally catching on, "Oh, shiet!" he shoved Blink's arms off of him then raced from the lodging house. He was halfway down the street before he turned back and returned to the lodging house. "Where he take her, Blink?"  
  
"I dunno, he didn't say."  
  
"What good are you?!" Spot yelled. He punched the Manhattan newsie in the gut, glaring at him before racing back out of the lodging house.  
  
"Maybe the jockey was paid off," mused Race as his friend Blink slowly crumpled to the floor. David did his annoying, nervous laugh and Jack grumbled to himself before dashing out after Spot.  
  


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Here. You can sit here."  
  
"I'll stand."  
  
Raymon smirked, he patted the girl on the shoulder, laughing as she winced, "Yer shoulder wouldn't be hurtin' right now if you hadn't been such a pest during the walk."  
  
"Shut up."  
  
"Little girls should learn to hold their tongues," Raymon reprimanded her.  
  
Selece rolled her eyes. "And little boys should learn to never be as stupid as you."  
  
Raymon growled, slamming the palm of his hand against Selece's soft cheek. He grabbed hold of her shoulders, dragging her closer to him. "This is what I hate about you, Selece! You're a quiet little angel when you first meet someone and then you have to become comfortable around them and act like this! Stay like an angel all the damn time!"  
  
"I'll try, Raymon. Really, I will," Selece replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm. Raymon growled again, shoving her down into the chair. "So, Raymon, isn't it time you tell me your motive for all this?  I mean, I really don't think you went through all that trouble just to get me." Selece crossed her arms; mimicking the expression Spot had worn the time David Jacobs had tried to get him to join the strike.  
  
"Well, yer right.  I didn't kill yer mother because I needed someone new." Raymon's face lit up. He rubbed his hands together like a five-year-old boy just itching to open his presents. "Yer mother was getting old, she wasn't racking in too much money. That was pretty obvious, eh?" Raymon chuckled before continuing, "But it was still alot more money then I, a hard worker at a respectful factory, earned. That's when it hit me. Yer mother was a independent harlot because she never wanted to work at the whore house."  
  
Selece wanted to jump up, beat him, do something! He was talking so cheaply of her mother. Sure, she had a terrible profession but she did it because she was a single mother who needed money. And she tried so hard, too. But Selece kept herself calm, waiting for him to finish.  
  
"But she never said she wouldn't want to work for me so I struck up a deal with her. She'd work for me; we'd spilt the earnings 50/50. But she said no."  
  
"Wonder why," Selece smirked. "Why would she work for you and give you half of her earnings when she had been fine working by herself for years?"  
  
Raymon paused, stumbling around for an answer. Unable to find one he just continued on with his story, ignoring her, "So, I killed her. No, no, I didn't kill her. I tortured her. It's amazing," he grabbed Selece's chin roughly in his hands, jerking it up. "You can't tell the difference between murder and sex?"  
  
"I'm going to kill you!" screamed Selece, jerking her chin away. She had tried so hard to remain calm, not to let this idiot control her emotions. But when he had said he tortured her, her mother. The womyn who had just been working an extra day so they could pay the electrical bills Selece had snapped. A dam broke and soon tears were gushing down her chin.  
  
"No, that's not what I was planning.  Yer not gonna kill me. Sorry, darling."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Okay, Spot," Jack wheezed, leaning against the doorway. "Why are we here again?"  
  
"To find Uhm," Spot growled. He glared at Jack, thinking the Manhattan newsie must be stupid to not have caught onto that one yet.  
  
"Yeah, Spot," Jack said, finally regaining his breath. He stepped into the room Spot had just entered glancing around in the darkness. "But how is comin' to Uhm's apartment gonna help? I dun think dat Raymon guy was coming here."  
  
"Close da door, people will get suspicious," Spot ordered, leafing around the room. He paused as complete darkness fell as the door was shut. "Open da door again, I guess."  
  
Jack rolled his eyes; he stumbled through the tiny apartment. Finally, he pulled the blinds to the window open. Bright sunlight streamed in, "It ain't even time fer da afternoon edition yet so it's still sunny, Spot."  
  
Spot looked up, blinking, "Oh, yeah, of course. What do ya take me for? The village idiot?"  
  
Jack bit his tongue, deciding to just not answer that one. Although he knew the last time Spot had been in this apartment he had most likely not even thought of opening the blinds. "Yeah, I mean, no. Anyways. What we gonna find here dat's gonna find Uhm?"  
  
"In Uhm's mother's type of work, she'd have to have all da adresses of her.. um, customers somewhere. So, we gonna find da addresses and look up Raymon."  
  
"Pretty sharp, Spot," Jack grinned. "So, where are all da adresses?"  
  
"Dat's da big trouble.. I dun know where they are."  
  
Jack rolled his eyes. He then set to work searching for any and all books that might contain addresses.   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Now, see, I thought that I could get you to work for me. Would you like that, Selece? Of course, seeing how much trouble you caused me, I'd have to take all the earnings. It's only fair, right?"  
  
Selece furiously rubbed at the tears that were still coming. She wanted desperately to make some smart remark but she couldn't. She couldn't even find her voice to cry. Silent tears simply came and went without a sound.  
  
"I'll let you pick yer first customer but then I choose the rest. Is that all right with you, Selece? Maybe we should get you a flashier name."  
  
"I'm not going to work for you, Raymon. Are you that blind? Your plan would be so simple to foil. It's making me laugh right now," Selece muttered, finally regaining power of herself.   
  
"Why? What's so wrong with it?" Raymon questioned, peering innocently at Selece.  
  
Selece smacked herself on the forehead, "I.. I can't stand this. You did actually have me frightened at the newspapaper office but now I can only wonder how many times you were dropped as a child. Do you lose brain cells the more you speak or something?" Selece stood up, rolling her eyes. She headed for the door.  
  
"Wait a minute!" Raymon growled, he lunged for the girl. Selece screamed out as his body weight dragged her to the ground. She should have known better then to get cocky. Raymon was certainly an idiot but he was also big. He also had a temper. "I don't want some little sixteen year old brat telling me that I'm the idiot!" Raymon screamed into her ear, Selece whimpered thinking that her ribs would break any second. Raymon got off, jerking her up harshly. "Yer going to work fer me and I'm gonna get alot of money! Did you understand that?!"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Heh, look at dis, Jacky-boy. It's her journal!" Spot fingered through the pages. He smirked, watching the handwriting change with the years. He finally stopped and flipped back to the first page. "Deer Poison, Hi, ma name is Selece. Ma mummy said I goota write in dis. I dun know why. Who I writin' to?"  
  
Jack rolled his eyes as Spot read the first entry in the girls journal, "Why are you wastin' so much time, Spot? I mean, c'mon. I dun even like da goil and I'm workin' harda den you!" Jack threw a nearby pillow at his friend before returning to search under the bed.  
  
"Yeah, yeah," Spot grumbled, he closed the journal but kept it close by. He wanted to read it after they got Selece back. Spot then smirked as he felt another book deep within one of the drawers in the dresser. He pulled out a small black book, similar to Seleces journal. "I found it!"  
  
"Wow! You actually did something useful!" Jack exclaimed.  
  
"Aw, shaddup, Jacky-boy," Spot mumbled, flipping through the book. "Let's see, Raymon, Raymon.."  
  
"Gimme dat," Jack spoke, snatching the book from Spot's hands. He quickly flipped to the R section then returned it to Spot. "Dere. Dat's a lot easier."  
  
Spot puffed out his cheeks, wondering if Jack was going to make a crack. Seeing the Manhattan leader wasn't, Spot quickly scanned through the R page. "Oh, shiet. Dere's two Raymons."  
  
"I'll go ta one, you go ta da other."  
  
"I was gonna say dat, Jacky-boy," grumbled Spot. He then placed his finger on the first Raymon, "I got 'im."  
  
"I get da second one then," Jack said, quickly remembering the address. Jack didn't want to admit it but he actually was a bit nervous. Every time he had gone to Brooklyn, he had been with some other newsies. Now he had to go by himself. That girl had better be very thankful when he saved her.  
  
"Meet back at da apartment in half of an hour, got it?" Spot commanded, no fear in his voice. Well, of course, he _was _the Brooklyn leader after all.  
  
"Uh huh," muttered Jack. He couldn't say anything else for fear Spot would be able to hear his fear. Jack then dashed out of the apartment, offering a quick bribe to God. "God, if ya get me through Brooklyn wit' no one attackin' me, I'll stop stealin' my goilfriend's tomata's. I swear!" Jack then disappeared down the stairwell.  
  
Spot smirked, hearing Jack even though he had tried to be quiet. Jack's little prayer helped to inflate Spot's ego a bit. Jack was scared and he wasn't. Ain't he just so tough? Spot let out an arrogant laugh, slipping Selece's journal into his pocket before also racing down the stairwell.  
  
Will Jack make it through Brooklyn?

Who will find Selece?

And.. will Jack truly stop stealing Sarah's tomatoes?!

Find the answers to these troubling questions in the next part of..

THE..

STORY..

OF..

UHM!!!!!

  
  
  
  
  



	10. Chapitre 10

            Are you as stunned as I am?!  I actually updated!  It's been a rather long time, eh?  Life caught up with me and I didn't even have time to just quickly proofread my story and put it up.  But slowly but surely I will get the remaining chapters up. I hope you enjoy this chapter.  Things to look out for in this chapter are some instances of my really bizarre humor and a really crappy fighting scene. Criticism welcome!

                **Alexiel ~ **Thank you so much for your sweet comments!  Here is an exciting Jack part just for you!  Although I'm pretty bad at writing fight scenes, I tried. -_-;;

            **Kate ~ **I really didn't want to tell anyone how many chapters this story turns out to be.. because I know it's going to scare away a lot of people.  But since ya asked.. it rounds out into a nice 17 chapters.  :o)  Thanks for the comments and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

            **Broadway **~ Yes!  There is a fight scene with Raymon in here so you're wish has been granted! Although.. do they really beat him up?  Hmmm.  Anyways, I'm glad you found my cheap shots at David humorous.  I thought I was the only one! ^_^

            **Tabbs ~  **I keep on forgetting to get around to you and sending you an e-mail.  But anyways.. thank you for one the best, most detailed reviews I have ever received!  You hit the jackpot on numerous moments.  The only thing that I had not intended to be there but notice it also now that you mentioned it is her new clothing.  Oh, and her fitting on Spots shoulder.  I always just thought of that as something cute to do.. although saying that it means she fits into his life makes even more cute!  Thank you so much for your review!! It meant so much to me!!!

            **I. M. wiener ~ ** ^_^;;.. Here's the update, as requested!  Thanks!

            **Kaylee ~ **Thanks for Iming me tonight and reminding me.. I needed to update! XD!

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                Selece squirmed like a fish out of water. She dug her nails into Raymon's thick fingers but to no avail. The strong male would not let go of her neck. Selece swung her legs around, trying to make contact with a least one part of the mans body. But Raymon, in an act of sheer genius, had held Selece an arm's length away so she could only nick him.  
  
"Now, listen, work fer me and I'll let ya go! If ya don't agree," Raymon tightened his grip even more. He could tell the girl wasn't going to last for much longer. But he didn't want to stop. Watching the poor girl squirm and struggle was one of the best things that had ever happened to Raymon. He liked knowing he had the power to just let her die or release her when she was on the brink of death. He had so much control. "Now, will ya work fer me? Just answer 'yes' and you and me will be happy." Selece stopped her pathetic attempts. "Is that a yes?" The girl lowered her eyes to the ground and Raymon grinned. He released her, laughing at the loud thud she had created when she hit the ground. "I knew ya'd come around! Now, yer first customer. How about one of yer newsie friends?"  
  
Knock Knock.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Jack walked up the steps; trying to remember the number of the room the Raymon he was looking for was in. He grumbled, leaning his ear against every door.   
  
"Rupert, damn you! Does mummy need to spank you?!" Jack smirked, some lil' bum was getting disciplined. Jack made a mental note to watch out for any brand-new newsies named Rupert.  
  
"I'mma sorry, Mama. You know I didn't mean to," came a sympathetic reply. Jack's eyes bulged out of his head. Rupert's voice was mighty deep for 'some lil' bum'. Jack quickly dashed to the next door, shuddering.  
  
"I putted up with your stupidity fer fourteen yars! Fourteen! And dis is your thanks?!" came a screaming voice from the next apartment. Jack smirked, this sounded like it would prove to be interesting.  
  
"Ma'am, it wasn't yer husbands fault. The machine at the factory grabbed a hold of his sleeve," came an informative voice.  
  
"Dat bastard! Leavin' I wit' four cheelden!" screamed the womyn again.  
  
"Please! Don't kick the corpse!" shouted the earlier informative voice.  
  
"DADDY'S EYE JUST FELL OUT!" came a scream. The voice sounded like it belonged to a little girl. Probably the daughter. Jack blinked a few times and decided he didn't want to stick around. The newsie dashed to the next door in the hallway.  
  
"I knew ya'd come around! Now, yer first customer. How about one of yer newsie friends?" came a happy, dimwitted sounding person. Jack smirked. The word 'newsie' was spoken so there was the chance this was the room. Jack raised his right hand and knocked twice on the door.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Get the door, Selece," ordered Raymon as he settled down in his chair. He tapped one enormous finger against his nose, trying to think of all the people he could get to buy a night from Selece.  
  
Selece sighed but she hadn't given up. There was certainly no way she could defeat Raymon psychically but his half-baked plans had so many ways to get out of it. She just had to wait and then she'd go back to.. go back to.. Spot.   
  
The girl opened the door. Her eyes stretched to their limits at the sight of a familiar newsie. Slowly, her jaw creaked open as Jack held a finger to his lips. He then mouthed the question 'Do you need help?'  
  
Selece couldn't help but roll her eyes before she nodded. Jack rolled his eyes in retaliation before stepping in. Selece backed up, turning to glance at Raymon. The old man looked like he was trying to figure out the meaning of life with that serious expression on his face.   
  
"Hey, Raymon," the man jerked out of his haze at the sound of a new voice. He glanced up to spot a nice looking boy. Probably near the age of Selece but maybe a little bit older.  
  
"Who are you?" Raymon yelled. He glared over at Selece who simply gave him an innocent shrug.  
  
"I'm.. I'm da Cowboy," Jack said with a smirk. Selece gagged but remained silent.  
  
"Da Cowboy? What the hell?" Raymon blinked. Jack then also blinked.   
  
"All right, Uhm. Let's go, I dun think dis man is gonna do nothing," Jack said, grabbing up Selece's hand.  
  
"No, wait!" Selece said. She knew that just completely walking out was one thing that really annoyed Raymon but her words came out too late. The temper had been released.   
  
"Who do you think you are, boy?" growled out Raymon as he stood from the chair. Jack smirked; this was more like it. Jack got into a ready fighting stance. "Argh!" Raymon cried out as he ran for Jack. Jack wasn't even able to parry as Raymon rammed him right into the wall.   
  
"Keep it down over dere!" screamed a voice from the apartment next door.  
  
"You shut up, you old hag before I hang ya!" screamed Raymon, his face crimson. The apartment next door fell to silence as Jack tried to quickly catch his breath before Raymon attacked again. Jack wasn't so lucky. "And you, you little," Raymon grabbed hold of the boys ear, dragging him up. "You dun know who you're messing with. Do you know who yer messin' with?"  
  
Selece bit her nails. Then, quickly and without thinking, lunged for Raymon's back. She wrapped her legs around his thick sides and began pounding on his back. "Let him go, you big idiot!" she screamed into his ear then began to attack the soft skin of his neck with her nails.  
  
Raymon laughed as he continued to hold the wounded Jack. Raymon reached back with his free arm, grabbing hold of Selece. He then sent her hurtling into the chair he had just been sitting in. The girl fell quiet as the chair broke all around her.  
  
"Now, back to you and yer unanswered question," Raymon said, grinning brightly.  
  
Jack looked over at Selece, grumbling at what a stupid move that had been. He had half a mind to simply tell Raymon to keep the girl but he remembered Spot and decided against it.  
  
"An idiot?" Jack said, still keeping his usual attitude even though his entire body was screaming. To think one move could do so much.  
  
Raymon smirked, he then grabbed hold of the boy's neck, letting go of his ear and pinned him to the wall. The larger male then kneed the younger in the gut, laughing as he heard Jack cry out. A large fist went hurtling for Jack's face and then went back to his gut. Raymon flung the boy to the other side of the room, pleasure written all over him. He skipped merrily over to Jack, squatting down in front of him, "Are ya hurtin', boy? I think you are. I've more muscle in me pinky then you got in all of you!"  
  
Jack stared at the man, knowing what he was saying was true. Not even when he had got Spot angry with him was he ever in this much pain. And all for what? Some stupid girl that might actually end up hurting his friend? Jack closed his eyes; everything was already going black anyways. He didn't want to fight for that girl anymore. He just wanted the pain in his head to go away.  
  
Jack could hear Raymon laughing. But he didn't mind. Then suddenly, the laughing took on a new noise. Almost like he was gurgling on something. The laughing soon stopped altogether and was replaced by mere gasps.  
  
"I told you, Raymon. I'd kill you," came a voice. It was dark, foreboding and monotonous. Jack could feel shivers run up his spine. The voice was so merciless, so unfeeling that he knew he must be next.   
  
"Jack, Jack, are you alright?" came another voice. It sounded similar but warmer, softer. "Jack, don't go to sleep. Open yer eyes. C'mon, Jack."  
  
"Uhm! You was here! Geez, what was takin' you and Jack so long? I got so worried 'bout ya two I had to come chec-.. Jack?! What happened to Jack?!" came a new voice. It was Spot. Jack was sure of it. The Manhattan newsie cracked a smile even though he couldn't see his friend.  
  
"Raymon hurt him. Spot, help me get him up," came the female voice. It was Uhm, Selece, whatever. Jack didn't care what her name was anymore. He couldn't even remember what she had looked like.  
  
"Okay," came Spot's voice. It sounded meeker then usual. Spot was never commanded around. Something bad must be happening. But what was wrong? Jack couldn't put his finger on it. Something was wrong here. And why.. why was it so cold?  
  
"I got his head, careful careful. His ribs might be hurt real bad," Selece spoke. Whose ribs were hurt? Whose?! Jack tried to move to see who was injured. Whoever it was, he'd have to help them. "Don't move, Jack! Just talk to us.. don't fall asleep, okay?"  
  
"Who are you?" murmured Jack. He felt like he was flying. He'd never flown before. Was it possible to fly? Maybe he'd fly tomorrow but right now, all he wanted to do was sleep.  
  
"I'm Uhm, Jack. Jack? Slower on the steps, Spot. Jack, are you still with me?" came Selece's voice. It sounded so urgent, so scared. Jack giggled, wondering what the girl was so worked up about.  
  
"No, I'm not wit' cha.. whacha gonna do 'bout it?"  
  
"Well, if he's well enough to make jokes, he's not that bad off," came Spot's voice. There was a hint of laughter in the boy's voice. Jack wondered when Spot had turned Irish.  Spot never sounded Irish before.  
  
"Alright, Spot, where are all your newsies? They're gonna have to help us carry him to Manhattan."  
  
"Why the hell would we go all the way to Manhattan? Brooklyn has doctors!" Spot said, almost angry. Jack giggled again seeing Selece must have damaged Spot's Brooklyn pride. That boy was so silly, getting all upset about simple things like that.  
  
"Yeah, but Brooklyn doesn't have his friends," Selece murmured. Jack thought he heard Spot say something but wasn't sure. Jack suddenly felt himself being lowered onto something warm. It reminded him of when he was little and he would rest his head on his mother's lap.  
  
"Mum?" Jack croaked out, trying hard to see his mother's face in the darkness.  
  
"Here, wear my hat. That way no one will try to pick a fight with you," Spot said. Jack heard footsteps running down the street and knew he was now alone except for...  
  
"Mum?" he asked again.  
  
"Yeah, Mum's here," came a soft gentle female voice. Jack smiled as his mother ran her fingers through his hair. "Jack, do me a favor. Don't go to sleep, okay?"  
  
"I'll try, Mum. I'll try real hard. But Mum, my name isn't Jack, remember?"  
  
"Yes, honey, I remember."  
  
Selece continued speaking with Jack, running her fingers through his greasy hair. She continually asked him not to fall asleep and knew he was trying his hardest. But Raymon had hit him pretty hard. Selece watched as slowly a pair of cops walked by. She snorted, not surprised by the fact they hadn't stopped to ask if they could help her. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Spot, listen, dere's something important I've got ta tell ya."  
  
"It'll have ta wait, Bullseye. We gotta get Jack ta Manhattan."  
  
"But," Bullseye trailed off. "How we gonna get 'im back?"  
  
"Carry him?" Selece offered.  
  
"We gonna die," complained Bullseye as Jack felt himself flying again. "We neva gonna make it 'cross the bridge. Jack's too 'eavy."  
  
"Yeah, Uhm. Mebbe we should just stay here," Spot mumbled.  
  
"Argh, I guess. But if something happens, I wish some of his Manhattan friends were here," Selece sighed. Jack giggled again. Nothing was making sense anymore. Everything was starting to sound weird. Maybe if he went to sleep, everything would clear up. Sleep sounded good actually but no, Mum said not to.  
  
"No! No, let's just go to Manhattan. We already on da bridge anyways," came Bullseye. The pace suddenly seemed to quicken. Everyone fell into silence save for Selece constantly telling Jack to stay awake. Just.. to stay awake.  
  
Will Jack stay awake?

What is this important thing Bullseye has to tell Spot?

And will this story ever actually be worth yer time?!

Find answers to these puzzling questions plus much more in the dramatic next part of..

THE..

STORY..

OF..

UHM!!!!!!!!!!!


	11. Chapitre 11

**Notes of the Author: Haha, it's been over a year since I last posted a new chapter. I hope none of the original readers are still around since they'll probably kill me! But anyways.. here is the next installment of my wonderfully terrible Newsies fanfiction. It's not that much in the excitement area but I hope anyone who reads it will enjoy it.**

**Also.. I solemnly swear (now that I have my life settled down and my computer salvaged) to be putting out the few remaining chapters in the next two months. **

**Enjoy.. please!**

**Chapter 11**

"Is he going to be alright?"

Selece glanced over to David as he stared worriedly at his friend. The girl shrugged, glancing from David to the girl who had come with him. She figured that Jack's little injury had interrupted a date or something of that sort.

"Ask da doctor, Mouth," was Spot's sharp remark. He never really had taken a liking to the smart schoolboy; though, everyone else seemed too.

The girl next to David peeked over at Spot. The rare occasions that she saw the infamous Brooklyn leader always gave her the wrong impression of him. How could anyone dislike her darling David? Kaa snorted then shrunk back a bit as Spot turned his equally infamous glare her way.

"This boy should be alright," the doctor's warm voice soothed as a collective sigh of relief was heard through the room. He glanced over to the few scattered newsies that were crowded around the bed. "I'm going to go tell Kloppman what needs to be done to make sure everything stays all right," the old man made a wince as he stood up from his kneeling position from the bed. He then hobbled down to the front desk where Kloppman was worriedly pacing.

David wrung his hands, glancing nervously to and fro. Kaa smiled a little bit, patting the nervous boy on the shoulder. "It'll be alright, Davey. Didn't you hear da doctor?" she whispered softly.

"Yeah but," he mumbled in slight protest.

Selece smirked at the girl. Although they weren't standing next to each other, Selece knew this girl was definitely taller then she was. And older. Their hair was similar, at least in length and waves. But hers was a dark blonde color.

Selece tried to look nonchalant as she slithered past all the worried newsies. She knew she shouldn't be thinking about making friends right now, but still it was a chance she couldn't pass by.

"Hey!"

"Erk."

"Where you goin', Uhm?"

"L.. let go.. let go of my collar," the girl said breathlessly. She yanked herself away from Skittery's grasp.

"So sorry," Skittery grumbled. He then stared curiously at her, "As I said, where you goin'? You ain't gonna stay with Jack?"

"I was just," Selece began. She wondered if it would sound too self-centered to say "I was just going to go make friends with a fellow female. Who cares Jack is lying injured on the bed before me with his girlfriend bawling her eyes out." She decided it was and just stopped talking all together.

"Hey, stupid. Let da girl go whereva she wants to go. Da doctor said Cowboy'll be all right."

Skittery grumbled again and Selece flashed a smile to Racetrack, the boy who had just spoken. She then continued to walk to the girl with David. Kaa turned her pretty blue eyes Selece's way and flashed a smile.

"Hey there," Kaa called out, raising her hand in a wave. She also didn't seem too fazed by Jack's injury. Selece's eyes lit up, waving back.

"Hi, I've never seen you around here. Uhm, my name's Uhm," Selece smiled, looking like she was in pain. She had just realized how stupid she sounded when she said 'uhm' when she was telling someone her name. That was something she'd have to fix.

"I see why," spoke Kaa, smiling. She spit into her hand, holding it out to Selece.

Selece blinked a few times. She had seen the male newsies do that spit shake thing but never a female newsie. But then again, she had only met Sugar and Ant so far. The girl shrugged before spitting in her hand and shaking with Kaa. "What is your name?"

"They call me Kaa."

"Kaa? Like a crow? Ya know.. kaakaa!" Selece said, her face bright. She flapped her arms around, staring earnestly at the girl.

The room froze. Nearly everyone turned to stare at Selece. Sarah stopped sobbing and David even stopped pacing. "Well, no. Not like kaakaa," murmured Kaa, trying so hard not to laugh.

"Oh, uhm, I'm, uhm, really sorry," Selece murmured as she twiddled her thumbs. Kaa let out a short-lived laugh. It was a kind laugh, not a cruel one and all the newsies returned to being worried or whatever it was they had been doing.

"Yer shy," Kaa said with a smirk. "Me too. 'Cept when I'm with my Davey," the eighteen year old said. She smiled over at Dave who couldn't care less at the current moment. He kept bending over Jack, checking if he was still breathing. Kaa couldn't help but laugh.

"Yeah, I'm shy, but I'm trying to get over it," Uhm said, still looking down. "So, you and David are an item?"

"Are they an item? Are they an item?" Racetrack said, poking his head over Kaa's shoulder. The boy had a devilish gleam in his eye. "They a couple all right. Davey wants Kaa reaaal bad!"

Kaa's face flashed crimson. She turned to stare at Race, slack jawed and shocked. "Hey, that was mean!"

Race merely laughed harder, patting the girl on the head. He put his cigar back in his mouth, wiggling his eyebrows. "Wow, Kaa! Ya figured that out!" The boy then hurriedly rushed away.

"How can you guys act like this when Jack.. Jack is dying?" Dave said quietly.

"Gah! You overreact, Davey!" Kaa reprimanded the boy. Kaa smiled at Selece, rolling her eyes a bit before grabbing Dave's collar. "C'mon, lets go talk with da doctor and he'll show ya it's not that bad!" David glanced around like a lost puppy as Kaa led him from the room.

Spot popped up behind Selece. "Wow, did you actually talk to her? I'm shocked."

"Uhm, well, yeah," Selece felt quite proud of herself. She turned to face Spot but he had already walked over to Sarah. The Brooklyn leader was bent down, whispering in her ear. Selece made a face, grumbling about how she hated when people left without warning.

"All right! Everyone get out! Me, Jack and Uhm got some things to talk 'bout!" Spot suddenly yelled. Sarah was already standing up and heading out of the room. Spot motioned to Selece and she moseyed over to stand next to him.

"Yeah but Jack can't talk, Spot," spoke a newsie Selece realized she hadn't spoken to yet.

"Shaddup, Itey," growled Spot. The newsie named Itey simply shrugged then followed the group out the door. Spot sighed, glad everyone was gone for now. "Okay, Uhm, tell me what happened."

"Well, Jack came in and he and Raymon got in a fight. I tried to help but, uhm, I'm not good at that stuff. So, anyways, when Raymon was beating on Jack, his pocketknife fell from his pocket. I picked it up. Jack was getting beat pretty bad. I mean, you saw Raymon. He's huge."

"I could have beaten him," commented Spot. He smirked, stretching his neck up to look taller.

Selece rolled her eyes, whacking the boy in the head. She could tell by his expression, he hadn't liked that one bit. "Oh, gee, I'm sorry, Spot. I thought, I was just," Selece stammered. But she wasn't sure what she was going to say. 'I thought we were friendly enough to whack each other on the head.' She decided against that and just continued where she had left off in the story. "Well, he wasn't paying attention to me because he thought he had knocked me out. So, I just walked over and he froze at the sight of the knife."

"Haha, you struck fear into him? But you're so puny," Spot said, a gentle hint of mockery apparent in his tone.

Selece continued onwards with her retelling. "Well, with such an opportunity, I picked up a chair piece and just.. whacked him. A few times. Well, uhm, a lot of times. Uhm... I'm really sorry that Jack got so beat up. I promise to, uhm, make it up to both him and you."

"Hey, that's alright. Jack's been beat worse and for less causes," Spot smirked as he whacked Selece in the head. The girl blinked a few times, staring at him.

"Yeah, but do you think he'll be mad at me? I guess I'll watch over him tonight," Selece looked around the room they were in. It was the girls' bunkroom Skittery had been talking about. Kloppman had set a bunk in it this morning for Selece to sleep in that night. But they had put Jack in that bed so he wouldn't be bothered by the other newsies. It had a lonely aura hanging over it, which caused Selece to shudder.

"Nah, you can go sleep in the boys' bunkroom. I'll watch over him," Spot said. He watched Selece's facial expression and he knew she didn't want to be alone in that bunkroom. "Don't worry, Uhm! You have friends other then me!" Spot smirked before shoving her out the door.

"Wow! Listen to this!" Spot proclaimed to the sleeping Jack after he had galloped back to the bed. He sat patiently by his friend's side not wanting Jack to wake up and not remember where he was or why. The boy had idled himself with reading the journal he had stolen from Selece's apartment. "Ahem," Spot made his voice go a bit higher as to mimic the female writer. "Today, Brooklyn arrived on the scene. Spot Conlon is so handsome. But I wonder if he is younger then me. I heard words that he was sixteen but he looks pretty scrawny, doncha think? I'll have to ask mother when I get back," Spot made a twisted face. "Well, that wasn't the good part. I'm not scrawny, am I? Jack? Oh, that's right, yer not awake yet." Spot rolled his eyes, glaring at his friend before continuing to read the journal. "After they defeated the new unit of warriors sent by Pulitzer, the winning party retreated to Tibby's. I followed like usual.

"They took up nearly the entire restaurant. I barely squeezed in. I'm surprised that no one noticed me. But then again, they are a bit thick headed. Anyways, that ugly reporter man who probably has no talent whatsoever came in. They were all excited about being on the front page of the evening, afternoon, something edition. Jack seems a little grumpy, though. He should have just allowed Spot to find his picture so he hadn't continued to be annoying. Anyways. Another grump asked what the big deal was.

"That man I talked about. The one that was going to die soon because of his cigars hit him. And got kinda angry. I feel bad for the guy that got hit. Anyways, they then all started wishing for what they should get since they are on the front page and 'famous'.

"Spot Conlon wished for a tub with water. Not one of my favorite but, hm, I wouldn't mind seeing him in it!" Spot grinned like a madman. "That was my favorite part! And then she says.. Oh my Lord! I cannot believe my hands just wrote that down. It's one thing when you think such thoughts but to write them down?! To admit to them?! But, you must admit, that would be one lovely little scene. Ah! There I go again! I had best stop before I go too far! Love Always, Rouge." Spot closed the journal glancing over to Jack. "Jacky-boy, I don't know what's happening to me. She's making me crazy. Is this what it felt like when you met Sarah? I bet not. I.. I don't think me and Uhm are like you and Sarah," Spot mumbled as he slid the journal under the bed. "She even got mad at me for kissing her. I thought ya said girls liked that stuff," Spot grumbled as he sat back. "Why does she sign her journal with 'Rouge'? I'm so confused. Why were women created?" his voice took on a whining tone as he buried his head in his hands, spurting out one random question after the other.

"Spot," groaned Jack.

"Jacky-boy!" Spot nearly pounced onto his friend. He stared earnestly at him, "You feeling any better?"

Jack opened his eyes, turning to look at Spot, "Shut up 'bout Uhm. She's the one that got me like this."

Spot blinked a few time, "Aw, gee, Jack.. you really shouldn't be so.."

"Gee, Spot, what happened to yer street talk?" snorted Jack.

Spot's eyes went wide. He quickly stood up, glaring at Jack. This was the thanks he got! Jack had better be pretty thankful Spot wasn't completely heartless. He didn't have the heart to beat up an injured newsie. So, the Brooklyn leader ended up stalking from the room to get ready for bed.

"Hey, fellows! Where is Bumlets?!" Kloppman stormed up the steps, he peeked his head into the bunkroom. "Oh, hey there, Uhm. You're not staying with Jack?"

"Oh, yeah, Spot was planning on staying with Jack," Selece smiled at Kloppman but her eyes kept wandering. Was it her fault Spot was getting ready for bed? Was it her fault that the bathroom was open viewing for those in the bunkroom? Was it her fault he was so handsome? Was it her fault he didn't have a shirt on at that current moment? For the love of God! She was only one woman; she had to fall to temptation sometimes!

But anyways, her voice was lost in the loud answer of none other then Racetrack. "Bumlets late because he is out with his girl!" the gambler laughed. He pulled his cigar from his mouth, plopping it in the can besides his bed. "Snipeshoota, ya touch this cigar and you won't have any mouth to put it in," he growled, narrowing his eyes.

Snipeshooter smirked, making a quick grab for the damn cigar. Selece rolled her eyes, as the younger newsie was quickly beat upon by Race. When would that kid ever learn? Race was just emotionally attached to those cigars; he should just leave the dumb things alone.

"Bumlets has a girl? When did this happen?" Kloppman blinked, searching around the room for someone else to answer his question. Racetrack wasn't going to be giving any more answers today. It was always like this, every night. Someone was always late, spending their daily earnings on some infatuation or addiction. Sometimes Kloppman wondered how some of them had enough money left to buy papers in the morning.

"Yea. her name is SB or something weird like that," Blink answered. He smiled at Kloppman before climbing onto his top bed.

"Hm, Bumlets never tells me things like this. Well, whenever he gets in, tell him he needs to be getting back in early, got it?"

"Got it, Kloppman!" came a voice from somewhere in the midst of boys. Selece recognized it to be that of Crutchy's. She remembered him from the strike. The girl smiled softly, remembering his final comments to Snyder. The Manhattan newsies were proving to not be that bad.

"Hey, Kloppman! Can you tell Selece to get ready for bed in da girl's bathroom?" yelled a boy with a bowl haircut and muscular legs.

Kloppman drew a short breath, glancing quickly to Selece. He caught her eye, trying to let her know that Jake was just kidding, but he wasn't sure if the girl understood. The new girl was such a mystery. No, no, that wasn't it. She wasn't a mystery. She was completely different then the other newsies who usually took a part to play and stuck with it. They hid true feelings and true thoughts behind masks of happiness. But Selece never did. She was always just herself, which Kloppman knew irritated some of the boys.

"Aw, Jake, shaddup. You were just jealous that she didn't even glance at ya!" was Swifty's snide remark. The long-legged newsie glanced over to Selece, giving her a smile. Selece couldn't lie and say that his smile didn't send shivers up her spine. There was always a wonderful feeling that overtook her when someone would stand up for her. With that little incident quickly over and forgotten, Selece skipped over to her bed. She quickly snuggled deep down into the thin sheets.

Spot smirked, leaving the bathroom to go back to Jack. He looked around for Selece to wish her a goodnight and saw she was already beginning to drift off. The newsie grumbled. He had barely gotten to talk with her and now he couldn't even wish her a goodnight. Did she purposely do that? Spot shook his head then left the bunkroom with nary a word to any of the other newsies.

New York City

Manhattan

October 13th

1900

"Good mornin', Jacky-boy!"

Jack growled. It was bad enough that his head hurt. It was bad enough his ribs were still screaming in pain. It was all just terrible. And now, he had an annoying early bird trying to wake him up. The poor boy hadn't even been planning on selling today. He motioned for Spot to leave him.

"Jacky-boy! You gotta get up sometimes! It's dinna!" Spot tapped his foot impatiently. He was feeling rather energetic today. Selece had sold with him, which made him feel very special. Of course, he still acted like he always did. But not now that it was just him and Jack. Now he could actually act as happy as he felt.

"Really?" Jack groaned as he began to sit up. His ribs nearly burst and the boy quickly laid back down. "I'm not gonna eat."

"Don't worry, Jacky-boy! You dun go nowhere and dinna will be served!" Spot said, patting the boy quickly. Spot then left the room, returning to his usual tough look ignoring the howl of pain his friend gave.

"He awake now?" whispered Selece. Her eyes darted around nervously. The bowl in her hands was shaking like mad and Spot feared the soup would tip out.

"Don't worry, Uhm. He ain't mad atcha," Spot patted the girl softly on the shoulder then shoved her towards the door. He winked at Selece then headed towards the main dining room.

"Uhm, Jack? It's me, Uhm," murmured the girl as she entered the girl's bunkroom. She looked to the one bed that was there, spotting Jack lying in there. He didn't look too bad except for all those nasty bruises. She tiptoed over to him, "I brought yer soup."

"Yeah, put it by my bed. I'll eat it later," Jack ordered, not looking at Selece.

"Uhm, Sarah came to visit you today. You weren't awake, though," Selece began as she sat the soup down by the bed. She then straightened up, staring at Jack. She wanted to let him know how sorry she was. That she was so grateful that he had actually fought Raymon for her but she couldn't even open her mouth to talk again.

"I guess I'll go see her tomorrow 'fore she gets worried," Jack grumbled, still not looking at Selece.

"Uhm, I uhm.. I'm really sorry that you got injured and all. That was really nice, Jack. You didn't even have to come looking fer me but ya did and so.. thanks. I'm, uhm, I'm really gonna try and make up for it," Selece blurted out, twiddling her thumbs. She stared at the ground, wondering if he was still going to hate her forever and ever.

"Yeah, sure," mumbled Jack. He glanced over to her, quickly catching sight of her scared, nervous first-day of school expression and nearly went soft. She really thought she had done something wrong. Of course she hadn't, he had went against Raymon all his own. He wasn't forced to go looking for her. But then he remembered how much he hadn't liked her, even in the beginning and went back to being his regular hard self. "Uhm, heres a way to make up fer it. Get outta my room and get outta Manhattan."

Selece blinked a few times, praying that she wouldn't start crying. "All right then, Jack. Thanks again. N.. nice meeting you and all!" Selece raised her hand in a goodbye. "Tell, uhm, tell Sarah I said bye," the girl then fled from the room. Jack watched her go, wondering if he should feel bad right about now. The boy sighed, he hadn't meant to be that mean. Oh well, what was done was done.

Will Jack say he is sorry?

Will Uhm go back to Brooklyn?

Will this story end soon?!

Find out in the next wonderful part of..

THE..

STORY..

OF..

UHM!!!!!!!


	12. Chapitre 12

**Notes of the Author: Wheee, I am so bad at updating this fic! It's all written, too. I don't understand my laziness sometimes. Anyway! Here is part twelve of the Story of Uhm! If you really like it, you should tell all your friends to read it and review it as well. I'm never motivated to update stories that don't get a lot of reviews. It makes me sad, hehe.**

**Sunshine -Thanks so much for the great review! Hope you are still watching for updates, hehe, and get to read this. I really hope it doesn't disappoint ya (too bad)! Let me know!**

**Allie - Thanks for the kind words. They really make me smile and brighten my day. I hope you enjoy this part and let me know if ya don't! Well, let me know if ya do as well, haha.**

**On with the show!**

Chapter 12

"So? How did it go?" Spot asked earnestly as Selece appeared in the dining hall. She plopped down into the seat that had been reserved for her, sighing deeply.

"Oh, uhm, it went wonderful. Jack said that he didn't care that he had gotten hurt," Selece smiled brightly at Spot. The boy grinned, nodding like he knew that was exactly what Jack was going to say. He then began to gulp down his soup while Selece merely stared at hers.

"You gonna eat that?"

Selece looked up. She had forgotten there were other newsboys at the table for just a moment. She glanced to the boy who asked her that. Quickly Selece tried to remember which one he was then smiled as she remembered, "Nah, you can eat it, Boots."

Boots grabbed her bowl of soup, staring at it greedily. Selece watched as he inhaled it like he hadn't ate anything in months. Skittery, who was sitting next to him, whacked the younger newsie in the head. They both started bickering loudly. Skittery said that was rude of Boots while Boots passionately defended himself. Selece found herself forgetting to listen and attempting to remedy the squabble. She didn't want to go back to Brooklyn. The girl was sure she wouldn't be able to last with Sugar there. But she wasn't allowed in Manhattan, not after getting leader hurt. Selece sighed; laying her head down on the empty space her bowl had been in before.

"Hey, Uhm," Spot spoke, reluctantly setting down his bowl. He licked his lips; savoring the beefy taste the broth had that night.

"Hey, Spot, when are you heading back to Brooklyn?" Selece interrupted, her voice muffled. She kept her head down on the table even though it wasn't a very comfortable position.

"I'm thinking maybe tomorrow. You okay wit' that?"

"Aw, ya leaving so soon, Uhm?" came Blink's voice. "I wanted to sell with ya tomorrow!" Blink froze under the glare of Spot. He chuckled nervously before quickly gulping down his soup.

"Thought you were gonna stay in Manhattan," Spot spoke up suddenly. He glanced over to the moping girl besides him. Was there something wrong here that he couldn't comprehend? Oh, poor Spot, he was so clueless.

"No, I'm going back to Brooklyn," Selece said in an unusually gruff voice. Spot shrugged then returned to his soup.

------------

"Say, you wanna go to the flickers tonight wit' me and some fellas?" Blink asked as he returned from delivering his soup bowl to the grungy sink. He glanced hopefully at Selece whose head was still buried in her arms.

"Eh?" Selece pulled her head, blue eyes widened at the sudden question. She stared at Blink. "The flickers? You have enough money for that?"

Blink winced as though she had slung something at him. He puffed out his chest and stuck his hands deep down in his pockets. "Hey, I ain't that poor."

"Well, I wasn't saying that," Selece sighed. She decided to just let the subject drop. "Well, alright. But what about Jack?"

"Spot's taking care of him!" murmured the soft voice of another newsie seated at that dinner table. Selece glanced over, recognizing the kid as the one called Mush. She smiled at him and he returned the expression.

"What am I doing?" Spot asked curiously as he returned from the washer. His eyes slithered across the table, taking note of Blinks petrified expression. "What I miss?"

"Blink asked me to the films tonight," Selece said. This was her first real 'date'. Well, the closest thing to a date she had ever had. She knew she should have been excited. Any normal girl would be but Jack words were nagging her. They were pulling her down until she felt she'd never smile again. Guilt was taking over her. First her mother then Jack… who else would she hurt?

"Oh? He did?" Spot replied, his voice taking on a quick sharpness. He looked over at Blink who was slowly edging away.

"Well, not just me, Spot. Me an' Mush an' Bumlets an' Snitch an' Pie Eata," at the mention of their names the aforementioned newsies all quickly snatched up any nearby bowl to return even if it wasn't theirs. They couldn't blame Blink for listing them off. Blink must be pretty petrified. But it was his fault for asking Spot's girl out.

"Uh huh," Spot narrowed his eyes, catching the collar of Pie Eater as he tried to hurry past. "You really goin' to the flickers wit' Blink?"

Pie nodded, glancing over to the almost trembling Blink. "Yeah, Spot. Saved up for it," he said quietly, hoping that whole 'saved up for it' bit would soften the possessive Brooklyn newsie up. It seemed to work for Spot released him quickly.

"Well, then you watch over Blink. Make sure he don't pull nothing on poor little Uhm," Spot grinned, glancing at Selece. He blinked a few times as she didn't even try to protest. She just remained staring down at the table. Something was wrong with her. Spot shrugged, she'd get over it. "I'm off to go bother Jacky-boy." With that, Spot left the dinning room and scurried up the stairs to the girls' bunkroom.

"You didn't die," Pie Eater murmured, his voice filled with wonder. The newsie then tossed the bowl he had been planning on returning back onto the table.

"Pie Eater! You hafta return that!" Snoddy shouted. He hated when things weren't cleaned up. He glared to his doe-eyed friend who shrugged then raced away to get ready for the movies. Snoddy grumbled a few curses before snatching up the bowl and stomping all the way as he returned it.

-----------

"Ready, Madame?" Blink said with a bright juvenile grin stenciled onto his face. He held out his arm, which Selece quickly linked her arm with. Blink was all dressed up; even pulling out the suit he always wore to Medda's show. It was a bit short on him now for he had grown a few inches the past year but he hadn't gotten around to snatching another.

Kloppman had given Selece a plain blue dress. His eyes had grown misty when he handed it to her. She knew it must have belonged to a woman he had loved and lost. She made sure to give him an extra long hug that night before they left. Selece had never really enjoyed dresses. Her mother would let her lounge around in big baggy pants whenever no one else was around but tonight was special.

All the other newsies that had come were also as dressed to the nines as a newsie could be. The movies must be a rare treat for them or at least a treat they felt they should get dressed up for. Linked to the arm of Bumlets was a strange girl Selece had never seen before. Her name was SB or so Selece had been told. The girl was in a beautiful light pink dress that really made her glow. Selece made a note to herself to make friends.

"Two for.." Blink spoke. Selece blinked as he finished his sentence, ordering two tickets for the movie they had planned on watching. As he pulled her away from the ticket booth, Selece hissed into his ear, "I was going to buy my own ticket."

Blink looked surprised for a second at the harsh tone of her voice then simply shrugged. "Too bad!"

They waited for the rest to get their tickets. Selece watched each of the single boys, watching their movements. She hadn't really talked to most of them for the few days she had been there. But she still knew their names.

Snitch was getting his ticket at the moment. He had taken off his backwards cap, which had made him hard to remember from when she had seen him at the strike. But the moment he had turned around, she knew. She also knew who that noisy thumb sucker was that she heard every night. Snitch looked over at her, catching her staring. He raised a brow then proceeded to make an obscene gesture, which caused Selece to blush. He laughed his head off then walked over to stand next to Pie Eater. The group of ragged newsies then filed into the theatre.

------------

"Selece went to the films wit' Blink and them. Can you believe that?" Spot growled out, pacing around the room. In sheer moments, he'd be foaming at the mouth.

"How sad," Jack murmured, not really listening to his smaller friend.

"They better get back here before.. before I get mad!" Spot growled. He hopped up and down, whining like a four year old. "Do ya think Uhm likes Blink? Oh, Jack! Should I really care?"

"No, ya shouldn't care," Cowboy said, closing his eyes and yawning.

"You're right! I don't care if they went to the flickers! Do I? No!" Spot sent a quick light punch to the bedpost. "Uhm is nothing to me!"

"Glad you're seeing things my way."

"I do care. I think I care, Jacky-boy," the boy tugged harshly at his hair. He was so distraught. Why did Selece have to do this to him? Drive him mad with confusion? He had no idea what these feelings were but oh, how he despised them already.

"Listen, Spot, this is the first time you've liked a girl. But Uhm don't like you," Jack began slowly. "But that's good 'cause if she don't like you, then you don't gotta like her! Then you will still be seen as tough and cold. Am I making sense?"

Spot had stopped listening at the 'Uhm don't like you' part. Everything was swirling. Was it true? Did the girl who he recently had been flipping out about have no feelings for him? And the most important question of them all was… should he care?

"She likes Blink. She told me that when she was giving me the soup," Jack said. He was lying straight through his teeth but Spot was so unstable now he wouldn't catch on. Jack continually reminded himself that this was for the better. Selece would end up hurting Spot more then he was at the very moment and she would damage Spot's reputation. But he just couldn't ignore that light that had been in Spot's eyes the past few days. Even when he was complaining and yelling and grumbling, it was always there. It was never there before.

"No," Spot said breathlessly. How had he not seen that?

"Yeah, I'm sorry, Spot," Jack did his best to look sympathetic. "Well, I'm going to bed. G'night. See ya," Jack said, closing his eyelids. He had the feeling Spot would be gone for Brooklyn bright and early tomorrow morning.

The Brooklyn leader sat on the edge of his bunk, legs swinging over the side. His eyes were vacant as he felt something he had never felt before. It wasn't the usual giddy feeling he had been feeling this past week. It was a terrible, aching feeling. Like someone he had trusted had turned around and just ripped his heart out. He was watching them laugh as he died. Slowly, Spot fell to a fitful sleep.

Does Selece really not like Spot?

What movie did Selece and the other newsies go see?

Why is Jack such a grump?

The answer to only one of those questions can be found out in the next part of..

THE..

STORY..

OF..

UHM!!!!!!


	13. Chapitre 13

**Mizu-chan's Notes: Yaay, I'm updating! This is an insanely short chapter compared to the other ones, but it's actually one of my favorites. I just love a good, angry fight, haha. Let me know what you think! **

**Splashey Hey! I'm glad you returned to read the Story of Uhm again! Thanks for the review!**

**Alex24 Hehe.. if you want Spot and Uhm to get together.. uhmmm.. you might wanna just skip this chapter. But I assure you the entire story won't end on the same note as this chapter!**

**Bitemytoemrmoe I'm so glad you like Uhm! And that you agree on the annoyingness of all the "strong-headed, control freak" girls. There is nothing wrong with those types of people (I'm actually one of them myself..).. but they just don't seem compatible with Spot! I do think Uhm is pretty strong, though.. **

**Krystal Wow, every time I re-read your review I blush insanely. Thank you so much! I'm really glad you think I got Spots character correctly. That is really the main thing I strive for when I write fanfiction. Hehe, I still think there are a lot of parts in my story that I should re-arrange. But thank you so much!**

**Lestat I'm so glad you like the Story of Uhm! I hope I updated fast enough, hehe.**

**On with the show! Don't forget to review and let me know how I'm doing!**

Chapter 13

New York City

Manhattan

October 14th

1900

"Get up, Uhm. Uhm, get up."

"Mmm, fi.. five more minutes," the girl mumbled out. She turned onto her side, placing her back to the annoyance. Quickly, she began falling back to sleep.

She heard a familiar growl. It took her a few seconds to put the growl with the face. But it was tragically too late for her to apologize. Spot had already yanked her onto the ground, "I said to get up."

Selece groaned, sitting up. Her eyes cracked open and she quickly soaked in the scene around her. The windows gave away the fact that it was still dark outside. Her ears gave away the fact that all the other newsies were still asleep. That wasn't fair! She turned a glare towards Spot, barely making out his own glare in the darkness. She then proceeded to hiss out an angry, "Why did you wake me up?"

"We're going back to Brooklyn, right? Right. So, get up or I'm leavin' ya here," Spot stood up from his crouch next to Selece. "Be down in the lobby in four minutes or I'm leavin' without ya." He disappeared down the stairs, Jack's words from last night still ringing harshly in his ears.

Selece moaned, pulling her still tired limbs from the ground. She stumbled through the darkness, hoping she wouldn't disturb anyone, and found the bathroom. Quickly, she splashed her face with cold water to wake herself up. The girl then headed back to her bunk as her eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness of the early morning. She smiled, watching all the newsies sleep before snatching up her outfit and heading back to the bathroom. Selece quickly changed from the white pajama dress Kloppman had lent her into her green plaid pants and too-small shirt. She winced as she put Blink's vest on, buttoning the bottom up to cover her skin. He wouldn't mind that she was borrowing it for good, would he? Selece shrugged, hoping he didn't before dashing from the bathroom, through the bunkroom and down into the lobby just as Spot was about to leave.

"What took ya so long?" hissed Spot as he waited by the door. Selece shrugged before dropping a few coins onto the desk of Kloppman. She also set the dress she had worn on the date to the movies and her pajamas on the desk, hoping he knew how thankful she was.

"I went as fast as I could, Spot," she mumbled as the two stepped outside. She winced as a wave of cold rammed into her. October was chilly enough but October mornings were freezing. The girl shivered as goose bumps rose up all along her arms. She glanced over to Spot, noticing that the cold didn't seem to bother him that much. He must have been used to being outside this early while she always slept late.

Spot watched her shiver. Half of him wanted to grab the girl and warm her up himself. The other half just wanted to push her down into the cold street for liking Blink. After all he had done for her. Punching Sugar, getting Jack to save her, and just being plain nice, this was how she repaid him? He snorted in disgust drawing a surprised glance from Selece, which he blatantly ignored. The young male then started a brisk walk towards Brooklyn.

------------

They were halfway across the bridge. The sun had finally risen out of the inky darkness, casting a soft glow on the awakening city. Selece was becoming angrier with every step taken. Spot hadn't spoken a word to her the entire walk no matter how many times she had attempted to start a conversation. He was acting like a pouting four year old and she had had enough.

"Alright, Spot. What's bothering you?" she asked, stopping right in the middle of the bridge. Selece set her hands on her hips, glaring at the boy.

"Nothing," Spot replied, his voice drenched in a sulking tone. He continued walking, pretending not to notice that Selece had stopped. Or at least pretending he didn't care.

"Nothing? Oh really? Is that why you've been giving me the cold shoulder all this morning?" Selece said, instinctively tilting up her chin in a stubborn position.

"I said nothing," Spot growled out as he stopped walking. Slowly, he turned around to face Selece, eyes narrowed to the thinnest of slits. "So there is nothing the matter."

"I don't believe that. You're acting strange, Spot."

"No, I'm not!"

"You're acting like you're three."

"No, I'm not not not!" Spot shouted, stomping his foot harshly against the ground causing a few passer-bys to glance over nervously.

Selece tilted back her head, laughing, "My point has been made."

Spot growled. He was already in a terrible mood and being laughed at just made it all the worse. He reached out, grabbing a hold of Selece's collar and pulled her closer to him, "Why you even coming back to Brooklyn? No one likes ya there. Why don't ya stay with Blink and all your men, you lousy whore," Spot hissed out. He spat at Selece before shoving her down with a smirk. The Brooklyn newsie then turned away, guilt slicing at his insides till he thought he would burst.

Selece stayed on the ground, stunned for a few moments. And then as she noticed he was walking away, the girl leaped to her feet. She wiped the salvia from her face, eyes brimming with angered and hurt tears. The young woman raised her fist, shaking it as she shouted to Spot's retreating back, "Fine! I won't go to Brooklyn! I hate Brooklyn and I hate you the most of all!! You're nothing but a spoiled, ugly brat!" Selece then whirled on her heels and raced off in the opposite direction, not knowing exactly where she was going.

Spot scoffed at the tone of her voice. She was hurt? Ha, yeah right. When did she ever care what he thought? Spot continued his walk to Brooklyn, fooling himself with tough thoughts as he tried to ignore his urge to turn around and race back to Selece.

Where will Selece go?

Will Spot apologize?

Is it just me or are the parts getting shorter and shorter?

The answers to these and more in the next spine-tingling section of..

THE..

STORY..

OF..

UHM!!!


	14. Chapitre 14

**Mizu-chan's Notes: Back to a longer chapter! Thanks again to everyone who has been reviewing, it means a lot! **

**Bitemytoemrmoe – Hehe, thanks, I love putting up those questions for some reason. They make me think of old B-horror movies. Oh! And about Spot being a total ass last chapter… mwahaha, don't worry, Selece is going to make him regret that very soon.**

**Pancakes – Here is the next chapter! I hope you like it! Thanks for reviewing!**

**Lestat – I hope you enjoy chapitre fourteen, let me know what ya think!**

**Venice – Thanks for the review, I'm glad you enjoyed the Story of Uhm so far. But don't worry, there are a few more chapters left. I would never leave ya hanging!**

**All righty, well, on with the fic! **

Chapter 14

Selece nearly collapsed. She had been running for so long, barely stopping to rest, with no idea of where she was going. The girl took a few more steps until she reached the nearest building. With a moan of despair, she slammed her fist into the rough wall. As the blood slowly trickled from her knuckles, she slithered to the ground; tears beginning to fall slowly down her pale face. At that moment, she didn't care about the looks she was getting. She didn't care what happened to her. She just had to cry. Nothing was making sense anymore.

"Uhm? Uhm from Manhattan? Is that you?"

Selece growled. Who was bothering her now? Couldn't they see she was having a 'session'? With another growl, the girl lifted her blurred gaze from the concrete to a familiar female face. Her eyes went wide as she murmured out a low, "KaaKaa?"

"Yep, that's me. What ya doing here?" Kaa said, tilting her head as she held out a hand. Selece accepted and was helped to her feet. Kaa felt the warmth of blood seeping onto her fingers and she took a closer look at the hand she was holding. "What ya do to that?"

"I.. punched the wall," Selece replied, looking down.

"Aw, that wall didn't do nothing to you," Kaa gently teased, her face bright with a soft smile. She patted the brick wall softly, "Uhm is sorry, she didn't mean to!"

Selece blinked a few times, watching Kaa pat the wall. She couldn't help but giggle through her tears at such a ridiculous sight. Kaa released Selece's hands, grinning broadly.

"So, why ya way out here?"

"Where am I?"

"Why.. you're in the great Midtown!" Kaa said, swinging her arms around as though to show-off the district. "Well, you on the border. Lucky for you I was on the way to Manhattan."

"Oh, well, I'm not headed for Manhattan."

"Then I'll show ya where the bridge to Brooklyn is," Kaa informed, giving a quick nod.

"No, that's alright."

Kaa narrowed her eyes. She had known something was wrong before. But she had brushed it off, thinking Selece must have just gotten lost. Now, though, she knew it was something more.

"Hey, Uhm, something wrong?"

"No, of course not. Why would you ask such a silly question?" Selece sniffled out as she frantically wiped at her sudden tears with her fragile hands.

Kaa sighed; it must be guy troubles. She knew Spot was a bad seed from the beginning. Kaa slung her arm around Selece's shaking shoulders, a lopsided grin taking over her face, "You wanna stay in Midtown for a little while 'til you're feeling better?"

"Yes!" Selece nearly shouted as she pounced on Kaa, giving the girl one of the tightest hugs she had ever experienced in her life. Once she was released, Kaa coughed a few times, regaining her breath with a chuckle.

"I'll show ya to the lodging house then," Kaa said, turning back and headed in the opposite direction of where she had originally been going. Oh well, Dave could be stood up for a day. It wouldn't scar him that much.

"Okay, Uhm, tell me what happened," Kaa said softly as she watched potential customers pass her by. The woman set the papers down on the street corner, sitting on one half and urging Selece to sit on the other half, which Selece did.

"Uhm, we had a fight," Selece said, twiddling her thin thumbs around each other. She watched the two limbs for a while before looking over to Kaa.

"Eh, boyfriend and girlfriend always have fights. Don't let it bother ya that much," Kaa said, with a smile.

"Oh, Spot and I aren't boyfriend and girlfriend. We were just pretending," Selece said, a small chuckle escaping her lips.

"Really!" Kaa's eyes nearly bulged from her head. She stared at Selece as if she had grown an extra head. "Why were you pretending!"

"Oh, to escape all that immature 'Spot and Uhm sitting in a tree' stuff," Selece said, waving it off like it was nothing. "Spot thought of the idea."

"Hmm," a grin lit up Kaa's face. She waved a finger in Selece's face, tapping her lightly on the nose. "Maybe it wasn't an act like ya think it was."

"W.. what!" Selece said, backing her head away from Kaa's tapping. A bright crimson had engulfed most of her pale face as her heart raced with that one small question repeating itself over and over. Was Kaa right? "S.. s.. s.. uhm.. so, tell me about you and Dave," Selece quickly said, changing the subject.

"Heh!" Kaa gave Selece a quick playful smack on the head before straightening up, her eyes gleaming like fire. "Davey.. Davey is.. well, he's my guiding light in an ocean of darkness. No one can take him away from me!"

Selece stared on, watching the girl as she spoke. There was such happiness to her face and in her voice. Kaa loved Dave. It was apparent and there was nothing anyone could do to shake that. Selece smiled, wishing she could love someone that much then spoke again, "How did you two meet?"

"During the strike. I think that's when everyone who's together now met. When I first saw him, at that rally, I thought what a wuss. And then," Kaa sighed as the words drifted dreamily from her mouth. "And then he looked at me. I dunno how he saw me through all those newsies but he did. And our eyes met. Our fate was sealed." Kaa's words fell off in a breathless sort of way.

Selece smiled, watching the girl land from her emotional high. "That's beautiful, KaaKaa. You two must really love each other."

"Of course we do! And my names Kaa!" laughed Kaa as she good-humoredly shoved Selece off the papers. "Listen, Uhm, I know how funny love is. Sometimes ya dun realize that's what you're feeling. Sometimes ya dun wanna feel what you're feeling. Sometimes ya wish ya never met the person. But, Uhm, if ya never met that person.. ya wouldn't be fulfilled. Do you understand?"

Selece let the words of this older girl sink in slowly. And she nodded for that was the only thing she figured she could do at the moment. Kaa smiled, pulling Selece closer to her. "I know it hurts, Uhm. But ya gotta do what ya heart tells ya to," the older girl ran her fingers through Selece's rough hair, smiling softly.

"Thanks, KaaKaa," Selece murmured, listening to the older girl laugh at the name again. The two then remained sitting there on the papers, each lost in their thoughts. Selece realized she had found comfort in one of the least expected places…Midtown.

"So den Davey says 'Kaa, I think I like ya. And I say 'I think I knew that'."

Selece laughed her head off as Kaa finished one of her many humorous David tales. It was later that evening. They had retired early to the bunkroom instead of going out somewhere that night. They didn't have the money to! Kaa hadn't sold any papers that day because she was too busy with Selece. They were the only two left in the female bunkroom. All other Midtown newsgirls were out with their "boys" tonight. It didn't bother Kaa or Selece in the least.

"Wow, you and Davey are such a perfect couple. His stupidity and your tolerance for it!" Selece said, a lopsided grin gracing her face. She knew what Kaa's reaction would be even before the older girl whacked Selece softly against the head.

"Hey! No one calls my Davey stupid! He's just a bit slow.." At that, the two both collapsed into laughter.

"Ya know, KaaKaa. I'm glad I met you. I haven't had a female friend for so long," Selece said. She didn't mean in just the few days she had been a newsie. Selece had never been good with girls her age. They always took her as a snob for never speaking. The girls her age would never let her get close so she never had the nerve to just start talking to them. But Kaa had talked to her and befriended her even if she had given off the air of a snob. With a big smile, Selece gave the girl a big hug. "Thanks."

"Don't thank me. Makes it sound like I was forced to be your friend. And dun call me KaaKaa! I ain't no crow!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, KaaKaa," Selece said, her face twisting into the innocent grin of a three year old. Kaa made a face as once again the new nickname was spoken and in sheer moments the two had collapsed into another bout of laughter.

"Kaa! Kaa!" A voice shouted along with about a dozen pair of feet racing up the stairs of the Midtown Lodging House.

"Hey! They called you KaaKaa too!" Selece shouted, her face lighting up. Kaa smirked, slugging the younger girl softly in the chin. Once again the two shared a mutual laugh.

"Kaa!" a final yell as six girls flew into the girl bunkroom. Their faces were as pale as Selece's and their eyes were bulging from their heads. Each was breathing heavily, as though they had run a great deal. One staggered over to Kaa's bunk, collapsing onto the mattress.

"Gambla? What's wrong?" Kaa said, her eyes blazing with worry as she leaned closer to her friend. Selece sat there silently, watching the girl called Gambler intently.

"We just heard.. Brooklyn is in a riot! They ambushed Spot Conlon!" Gambler said as she slowly regained her breath. The five other girls, who remained standing, all nodded their heads eagerly awaiting Kaa's reaction.

"What!" Kaa glanced swiftly over to Selece who suddenly looked tired and about to collapse. Kaa winced at the sight. "Who led this ambush against Spot?"

"That Sugar girl! Do you remember when she came to Manhattan when we was there?" Gambler said, her eyes going wide. "I always knew she was blood-thirsty! We gonna do anything? All the boys wanna help Spot out."

"Well, there's really nothing we can do tonight. It's too late but if everyone's okay with it, we can go to Brooklyn tomorrow," Kaa spoke. For some reason, since she hadn't been there when the girls had first been told of the news, Kaa had somehow been given the leadership of the female newsies of Midtown. At least for tonight. She didn't mind it that much although having all those eyes on her, waiting for her to tell them what to do, was a bit nerve wracking. "Is everyone okay with that?"

Slowly, all the upset Midtown newsgirls shared glances and nods. Gambler then turned back to Kaa, "Yeah, we fine with it." For some reason, that caused the five standing girls to burst into uproarious laughter. "We'll be back later then, Kaa," Gambler said with a smirk. She stood up and quickly walked back down the stairs, the rest of the girls following her.

"Heh, knew I couldn't be the leader for that long!" Kaa said, chuckling. She glanced over to Selece who, although naturally pale, looked even paler then before. Kaa immediately fell serious, "Uhm, it's probably just silly gossip. Brooklyn would never try to hurt Spot Conlon."

"But, Kaa," Selece looked nervous. Kaa didn't know Sugar and how terrible Sugar could be. "What if it's true?"

"If, and I say if, it's true, it'd be dangerous going to Brooklyn on your own. They gonna be after everyone who they think might try to help Spot," Kaa said, staring Selece straight in the eye. "So don't do nothing until tomorrow. Don't try to be no heroine. Brooklyn's dangerous already, with or without Spot Conlon as the leader, got it?"

"Yeah," Selece mumbled, glancing to the ground.

"Promise me ya won't try nothing?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Well, we should get some sleep."

"Yeah."

"Goodnight, Uhm."

"'Night, Kaa," Selece climbed onto the top bunk, pulling the thin sheet over her. She stared at the wall, eyes wide open long after Kaa fell to sleep.

Why would anyone ambush Spot?

Will Selece really stay in Midtown?

Does this story reek or what?

I'm sure you all can't wait for the next ultra-cool part of..

THE..

STORY..

OF..

UHM!


	15. Chapitre 15

**Mizu-chan's Notes: Hey guys! Wow, it's almost over! There are only two more chapters after this one. I was hoping on getting an even 100 reviews for this story, so if you're reading this.. please, please review! I'll simply explode if I get 100, haha.**

**Oh, and also.. after this chapter, the story gets really twisted, kinda out of the blue. Since I wrote it a long time ago, I was debating on just re-writing the entire ending and "untwisting" it slightly. But it's up to you guys. Let me know whether you want to see the original messed-up ending or a new revised one. Thanks so much!**

**ToXiC-SeOul-FiRe Hey, I'm so glad you liked my story! Thanks for the review!**

**Splashey Yep yep, Spot got himself ambushed. This chapter doesn't explain much about the ambush.. so you'll have to wait even longer to see what really happened, mwahaha. Thanks for the review!**

**Outsider Wolf Yaay! I am so glad you found my story funny. I try hard to make my story funny at times so I'm glad it worked! Thanks for the awesome review!**

**bitemytoemrmoe I'm so glad you reviewed, I was a bit bummed when you didn't at first. I'm so grateful for the way you review every chapter, it really, really means a lot! And hm.. hurting Spots face? I don't think I could ever force myself to do that, hehe!**

**On with the show!**

Chapter 15

New York City

Midtown

Near Midnight

1900

"Sorry, Kaa. But I did promise to not do _nothing_," Selece deviously smirked, as she slithered from her bed to the ground. Her feet tapped across the floor, silently and softly like a primadonna ballerina. She snatched up Blink's vest that was hanging on the bedpost then tiptoed towards the door.

Suddenly, a cold hand reached out from one of the bottom bunks. Selece repressed a scream of terror then fearfully glanced to the girl on the bunk. As her eyes adjusted, she figured out who the girl was. "G.. gambler?"

"Yeah, that's me. What ya doing, Uhm?" Gambler said in a hushed whisper. Selece couldn't tell if the girl was trying to be mean or nice.

"I'm, uhm, I'm, uhm uhm, going for a walk," Selece said, giving off a nervous giggle. She froze; hoping that hadn't wakened anyone.

"At night? Sure, ya are," Gambler smirked. "You're off to save your boy." At Selece's silence, Gambler's smirk widened. "Don't think no one knows 'bout you and Spot. It's been the talk of the town."

"Listen, Gambler, I really have to go. And we might wake someone up.." Selece trailed off, hoping the other girl would catch the drift.

"Yeah yeah," Gamblers hand released Selece's leg. "Go save your boy."

Selece grinned, whispering out a rushed "Thanks" before she raced out the door and down the steps, sliding into Kid's vest as she went out into the night air.

New York City

Walking

October 15th

1900

"Hey, sugar darlin'," a snide voice smothered the night air. Selece glanced around into the darkness, dimly lit by streetlights. She spotted a drunk, lurching to the side as he tried to walk closer to the girl. Selece snorted, rolling her eyes quickly before quickening her pace. She didn't have time to deal with some drunk who thought he might get lucky tonight.

When he had said "sugar" something had clicked in the girls mind. As Selece left the drunk to wither in the streets, her mind churned out possibilities. She already knew it was probably Sugar who had formed the ambush of Spot. But why? Was it because of Spot and herself? Selece growled.

"What a bitch," came her angry voice, surprising even herself. She paused for a moment as a sudden realization struck her. The idea of Spot being in any sort of harm upset her more than she had ever thought possible. She was so full of adrenaline yet smothered with such worry. It took every ounce of her meager supply of courage to keep from falling into a sobbing heap on the Brooklyn Bridge. "What's wrong with me?" Selece whispered harshly as her body simply shook from all the intense emotions swirling around inside her. She didn't dare answer her own question.

New York City

Brooklyn

October 15th (Same time as Selece walking)

1900

Spot sat there stunned, staring blankly at the floor. His arms were tied tightly behind the chair and the fire of his spirit had been quickly doused by Sugar. Sugar's words came running through his head again and the boy moaned. How could he not have realized any of that? How could he have been so stupid? The broken leader moaned again and finally just gave up.

Selece rubbed her arms. It was so cold at night. The girl glanced to the sky, wondering when the sun was planning on rising. Hopefully not too soon. It'd be harder to help Spot if Sugar was up. Selece then glanced over at the lodging house, staring fearfully at the lit door. Hopefully, no newsie would be returning late this night. She bit her lip, noticing how her entire plan relied on flimsy hopes.

Selece then glanced around, spotting the usual drunks and creatures of the night. Taking a deep breath and praying no one would bother her, the girl dashed into the alley way. She then slowed her pace and began to tiptoe up the fire escape.

Sugar slithered over to Ant, a bright grin on her face. She wrapped her arms around Ant, pulling the younger girl into her lap. Ant struggled to get out of Sugar's grasp but Sugar just kept on rocking. "Don't worry, Tuirean.. we got him. He's not getting away again," murmured Sugar as she kept rocking back and forth. A soft Irish accent that hadn't been there before fell onto her words.

"I know, Aoife," growled the younger girl as she squirmed harder. She also carried an Irish accent.

Sugar kept her arms tight, pulling Ant even closer, "Stop trying so hard. It has to be this way."

Ant's eyes went wider then they ever had as her squirming took on a desperate pace. She urgently searched around for another newsie but then remembered despairingly that they were all sleeping in the lobby or guarding Spot Conlon.

"Don't worry, Tuirean. Ssshh, sshh, don't worry. They're waiting for you, little one. They told me," Sugar said, a glaze falling slowly over her eyes. Neither noticed as Selece tiptoed past them in the darkness of the night.

Selece breathed a sigh of relief as no one in the bunkrooms noticed her as she scurried up the fire escape. Her feet were driven by a blind instinct that kept her from peeking into any of the lower windows. She knew Spot wouldn't be there.

Selece's steps were suddenly stopped at the fourth window up. A heavy silence seemed to smother the room. The gut instinct that had been leading her so far was urging her to go closer to the window. Slowly she gulped and carefully edged towards the window.

The silence was broken with a human noise. It was a mixture of a despairing moan and an indignant growl. Every time the noise filled the air, Selece would jump an inch off the metallic fire escape. Finally, she calmed her nerves and moved the curtains of the window, staring into the darkness.

Where was the boy? She squinted, trying hard to find him, afraid he would jump at her any second, afraid this was some sort of trap. Breathing deeply to calm herself, the girl finally found her voice and spoke, "Spot? Spot, is that you?" There was no reply, just a husky deep breathing. "My name is Selece Depardieu. I used to go to school around here. What is your name?" Selece tried again, trying to keep her nervous voice steady. "Where is Spot?"

"Uhm.." the boy paused, trailing off for the moment. Before Selece could speak, though, he quickly began again, "My name is Amorgen O'Malley. I'm.. I'm Spot Conlon."

What did Sugar tell Spot that made him so crazy?

What is Sugar going to do to Ant?

And just where did the author come up with those names!

Again! Find out in the next part of…

THE..

STORY..

OF..

UHM!


	16. Chapitre 16

**Mizu-chan's Notes: Hey guys! Sorry for making you wait so, so long for the next chapter.. but I got all annoyed with how I originally wrote it so I made some HUGE changes to the last two chapters. See if you can notice the difference between my old writing style and my newer one. Hopefully I've improved (this story is about four years old now..). I really hope you guys like this chapter!**

**Pancakes: I know, I'm sad that there are only two chapters left as well. I might start another Newsies fanfiction, though, since they are so addicting, hehe. Thanks so much for the review! I hope you enjoy this new chapter!**

**Outsider Wolf: Hehe, sorry I didn't update sooner but here is the next chapter! I can't promise you any happy endings, though. Thanks for the review and I hope you like this chapter!**

**Splashey: Hehe, I made the "creatures of the night" remark because back then I was obsessed with Rocky Horror Picture Show.. and in one of the songs all the characters say "creature of the night".. it's a hilarious song, you've probably heard it. But see, there was actually a story behind that line! Oh, and don't worry. In my new version of these chapters, Ant does not get hurt. In the original, though.. well, she did not meet a pleasant end. Enjoy this chapter.. please!**

**Leh Sundance: I know, I know, I _was_ horrible for ending there! And then I took so long to update! I am sorry… forgive me? **

**Flare: In all honesty, I do remember you! Your e-mail really made me happy and actually was part of the reason why I started updating on again. Unfortunately, though, all the traumatizing and freaky parts are taken out of the story now. Sugar is still.. crazy, though. Just not as so. I hope you still like the ending!**

**Bitemytoemrmoe: I am so relieved I did not hurt Spots face because yes, bubblegum is so insanely difficult to get out! But I do hope you like this chapter. Oh! And Ant was briefly introduced in the beginning as the smart little girl at Spots table, kinda a sidekick to Sugar. Don't worry, though, because I might go back and cut out the scene with her in the last chapter because with all the new revisions.. it just doesn't make much sense. I can't wait for your review!**

**Cbs3: I am so insanely glad you laughed at my story! Sometimes I just sit there and wonder "Are any parts of my stories actually funny?" so thank you for letting me know you laughed! I hope you continued on with the other chapters and will now read this one (hopefully liking it!)**

**All righty, folks, on with the show!**

Chapter 16

New York City

Brooklyn Lodging House

October 16th

"Amorgen?" Selece stumbled over the foreign name as she took a few cautious steps into the darkened room. "Spot, what are you talking about?"

"My name, my real name. It's Amorgen," the boy responded with a dreadful mixture of disgust and defeat in his voice.

"Okay then," she whispered, drawing closer to the seated boy. She could hear his rasping breaths louder than before and reached a trembling hand towards the area she deemed the noises were coming from. Her hand quickly came into contact with a tense shoulder and she gave it a light squeeze. "Spot, is that you? My eyes haven't adjusted yet."

"Yeah, it's me." His voice was slowly returning to its normal haughty tone. "Now, untie me so we can go beat Sugar senseless."

Selece felt some of her own tensions disappear as an exuberant smile filled her face. Spot was back to being himself, not some ragged, defeated little boy. She slid her hand down his arm until her fingers smacked against the harsh rope holding him hostage. For a moment, she began tugging at the knot but then suddenly froze.

"What the hell? Hurry up!" Spot scolded.

"Say you're sorry first," Selece retaliated with a triumphant smirk on her face.

"Wha.. what?" he stammered out as his blood froze solid in his veins. Apologizing was the one thing Spot Conlon could never, ever do.

"You have to apologize before I untie you."

"Apologize for what?" he hissed out, wanting so desperately to start screaming at the girl but knowing he couldn't raise too much noise.

"The last thing I remember," Selece paused dramatically, "you had spat on my face and were stomping away like a child throwing a tantrum. So, say you're sorry for yelling at me and spitting on me."

"No! You deserved it!"

"Spot, Spot, Spot," she clucked, shaking her head sadly. "Do you really want to stay tied up all night? No one deserves to be spat on, so just admit you feel bad about it and we'll get out of here."

"Sugar is going to come and beat us both if you don't hurry. Besides, why should I apologize when all you care about is that stupid Blink idiot?" Spot huffed and Selece swore she could detect a hint of a pout in his voice.

"Blink? Of course, I care about Blink. He was one of the only Manhattan newsies that was nice to me. Why wouldn't I care for him?"

"Yeah, well, you should have acted more like my goddamn pretend girlfriend than hang all over him the whole time I was there! So I'm not sorry, you little brat," Spot spat out.

Selece stood up, shaking her head one last time. "I'm going to turn traitor on you and join Sugar unless you say sorry." She stepped slowly away from the boy, feeling her way around the room in a blind attempt to find the closed door.

"Wait! Uhm, get back here," Spot mumbled. "Just get back here real fast. I've got something to tell ya."

The girl bit back a victorious giggle before turning around and retracing her steps. She knelt down in front of Spot, peering, through the murky darkness, up at the shadows of his face.

"Uhm-er-Selece, listen. I guess, you know.. well, about the spitting and-and the yelling," he fumbled like the village idiot for every word, "I suppose, if it will make you happy, I could be.. well, I will be.. or I believe I am.. for you, Selece.. I am sorry."

His words filled the room. For seconds after the heavy apology was released, neither person spoke a word. Spot sucked in his breath, waiting in agonizing impatience for his final judgment. He wished that he could clearly see Selece's expression so as to infer her next action.

"Spot, I am so glad you could say that to me!" came the sudden squeal from the ecstatic girl. She jounced off her knees, arms outstretched as she came colliding with the harnessed boy. "That was all I wanted to hear!" She squeezed Spot tightly in a desperate hug as the chair he sat in teetered dangerously.

Spot was dazed. Perhaps he would try apologizing more often if it garnered him such a pleasant reaction. "And I am sorry for," he began. His next words were never heard as the teetering chair finally gave up and plummeted to the ground with both teenagers seated in it. The following crash echoed throughout the entire lodging house. "Oh, goddamn it!" was the expression that replaced Spot's next apology.

"Oh, no," Selece hissed, struggling to roll herself over the arms of the chair. She stood up swiftly then struggled to pull Spot and the chair he was still attached to up as well. Once successful she yanked furiously at the knot tying his hands together until it finally gave way.

"Finally," Spot muttered indignantly while gingerly rubbing his wrists.

"Sorry," whimpered Selece as the sound of running feet filled the hallway outside their room.

The door swung open and the room was flooded with a dim light. Selece could make out the figure of Sugar standing in the doorway with her hands upon her hips. The girl took a few steps into the room.

"Amorgen, why have you been such a naughty boy?" Sugar questioned as both Selece and Spot stood stock still. They were waiting for the other one to come up with a better plan of escape then just barreling past Sugar. They continued to wait even as Sugar took a few more steps inside the room and flipped on the inner light switch.

"Listen, Sugar. I don't know why you're doing this. If you want to be the 'leader' of the Brooklyn newsies or whatever your reasoning is, I don't think this is the right way," Selece began. "I mean, an ambush and then locking him up in a room of his own lodging house? This isn't some huge scale war, you know? Don't be so silly, Sugar."

"Oh? Is that what you think this is?" Sugars tone was innocent and bubbly, but Selece feared every word. "I don't care about some dumb stock of newsboys, that's what Snorks is here for. I just want Amorgen back, I want to show him what he did."

"Spot, what is she talking about?" Selece questioned the boy, who had fallen silent upon Sugars entrance.

"Aww, Amorgen hasn't told you yet? I guess he's just too ashamed. Silly boy," Sugar stepped besides Spot, resting her hand casually on his cheek. "You think any of this would matter to her? She never liked you anyway. Besides, as your older sister, I forbid any sort of relationship with such wanton women. A whore, wasn't she, Selece? Your decaying mother, I mean."

"Sister?" Selece fumbled out the word as her mind reeled from the sudden insult of her mother. She took a step towards Sugar but was stopped short by the resounding noise of a brutal slap.

Sugars eyes were wide with a self-righteous rage as she stepped away from Spot, her hand now clutching her bright crimson left cheek. Tears slowly began to brim up in her eyes. "You only react to me when I insult her! It's not fair, you aren't allowed to care for anyone. I want you to be as miserable as you made our entire family, you selfish little bitch," Sugar hissed. She turned slowly on her heels to face Selece, who was now standing frozen in a state of absolute shock and confusion. Slowly, Sugar removed her hand from her cheek before lunging towards Selece, her long fingers slowly encircling themselves around the unsuspecting girl's neck.

Was that an abrupt way to end a chapter or what?

What is all this crazy nonsense Sugar is spewing?

Will Selece and Spot ever hook up!

Find out in the next enthralling chapter of…

THE

STORY

OF

UHM!


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